Madness Effect
by ZenoNoKyuubi
Summary: It's the year 2185CE. Commander Jane Shepard is recruiting members to bring with her on a mission against the Collectors and the Reapers. Among the candidates is Dr. Harry Potter, the reclusive mad scientist who has been missing for twenty years. Who knows what he was doing during that time? Rated M to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, one and all! This is ZnK with another story for you! It's the third installment of the Madness trilogy, Madness Effect! Now, I realize that there are many who don't have any actual experience with Mass Effect, but don't worry, I'll try to explain everything as well as I can without making the story pause.**

 **So, yeah, enjoy the new fic, and leave a review on your way out!**

–

" _Just a brat..."_

 _Twelve-year old Jack Harper stared wide-eyed up at the man standing before him. The man was famous, his face visible almost everywhere for the last year or so. This was the man who had discovered the ruins on Mars, discovered all that technology, learned about mass effect fields and everything. In essence, he was Jack's idol. Jack had always been a smart boy, and he liked to show it, but he was from a poor family, who couldn't afford the best education._

 _Jack had run straight into the famous scientist, Harry Potter! Being just a young boy who had his idol staring down at him, Jack couldn't do anything but gape as the stitched-up scientist, in his white lab coat, stared down at him while puffing on his cigarette._

" _What can I do for you?" Dr. Potter asked, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't run into me like that. Almost broke your neck on reflex."_

" _S-Sorry..." Jack muttered, gulping. He fiddled with the datapad in his hand for a moment, then held it up. "I-I didn't mean to run into you. I just... You dropped this, sir..."_

 _The doctor, without so much as a thanks, took the datapad and looked it over, then turned his eyes, the right one shining bright green, down to Jack, staring into his eyes curiously for a long while. Then, he said, "Did you read this?"_

" _N-"_

" _I am very good at spotting liars," Dr. Potter interrupted, smirking at Jack, who flinched. "Now, I ask again. Did you read this?"_

" _Y-Yes..." Jack mumbled in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to, really. He was just... curious..._

" _So, what did you think?" Dr. Potter asked, his eyebrow rising curiously. "Good enough to get published?"_

" _I... What?" Jack asked in confusion._

" _I know talent when I see it. You understood what I was talking about in this, no?"_

" _S-Some of it... There were... words that I didn't understand..."_

" _Want to learn?" Dr. Potter asked._

" _What?"_

 _Dr. Potter, pinched the bridge of his nose at that question, then gave Jack a chiding look._

" _Am I going to have to repeat myself a lot with you?"_

" _N-No! I mean, I'm sorry... I... I just don't know what you mean..."_

" _I thought you were intelligent?" Dr. Potter muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'm asking if you want to learn from me?"_

" _R-Really?"_

" _Yeah. Gonna need your name, though."_

" _J-Jack! Jack Harper!"_

" _Well, Jack, I'm Dr. Harry Potter, Commander in the new Alliance Navy. Please don't be offended if I decide to dissect you sometime."_

" _W-What?"_

The one known as the Illusive Man opened his eyes at the end of the memory. So many years had passed since then... Back before he became the Illusive Man. Hell, before he even became a mercenary, back when he was the nervous, stuttering assistant and student of the enigmatic Dr. Potter, who would always go out of his way to anger his supposed 'superiors,' who always claimed that knowledge was power, and no one would ever be allowed to stop him from gaining more.

Unfortunately, his current location was unknown, even to Cerberus. Hell, from what the Illusive Man could gather, even the Shadow Broker couldn't find out where the mad scientist was. There had been sightings, of course, here and there, meetings with certain people, but he was never in one place for too long. His meetings with people weren't even known until he left, and after that, he could turn a corner and disappear.

It was risky, even contemplating bringing him into this, but this mission was too important to risk failing simply because the Illusive Man was wary of Harry Potter...

Tapping the ash off his cigarette, the Illusive man got to work compiling a dossier for Commander Shepard.

–

 _Dr. Harry James Potter_

 _-Genius scientist_

 _-AI expert_

 _-Hand-to-hand specialist_

 _-Biological energy-manipulator_

 _Dr. Harry James Potter (still retaining the rank of Captain in the Alliance Navy) is a human scientist responsible for the majority of technological advancements made by the human race. His age is unknown, and he has hinted that he may be centuries old. His technological expertise, and all-around genius, may come in handy in dealing with the Collectors. His location is unknown. Suggest questioning Dr. Mordin Solus._

Commander Jane Shepard of the Alliance Navy, now working with the pro-human organization Cerberus, lowered the datapad in her hand, furrowing her brow. She had heard about Harry Potter. After all, who hadn't? Every kid learned his name in school growing up. The man who found the Prothean ruins on Mars, the man who extracted a massive amount of information from them, the man who allowed the humans to travel past their solar system...

"Alright, now that we have Mordin, we can go after this next guy on the list," she said, standing in the tech lab on deck three of the Normandy SR-2 with Mordin, Garrus, Miranda, and Jacob. "I was thinking we could try to find Dr. Potter next. However, we have no idea where he is. Mordin, do you know about him?"

"Hm, Harry Potter. Heard great things. Great scientist. Hedonistic. Sadistic at times. Immoral," Mordin said, rubbing his chin. "Never actually worked with him. Have been meaning to. Brought humans to the stars."

"He would be a great asset," Miranda spoke up. "From what I hear, the Normandy was actually based on one of his designs."

"So, we're recruiting the only one who gave the turians a proper beating?" Garrus asked, chuckling softly. "I've heard a lot about him. Didn't he disappear twenty-two years ago?"

"Heard he disappeared. Always kept an eye out. Part of reason for being on Omega," Mordin said. "Has had dealings with asari in charge. Known to break Omega's only rule on many occasions."

Garrus coughed into his hand once, then asked, "Do you mean that literally, or figuratively."

"Figuratively, from what I have learned."

"Guess it's back to Omega, then," Shepard said, crossing her arms.

–

As Shepard entered Aria T'Loak's club, Afterlife, on Omega, she got this strange feeling like she was being watched. Being a seasoned soldier, she had always been a bit tense among a large group of people, and always kept up a healthy amount of suspicion toward everyone, especially on Omega. But that was usually just a tingle in the back of her head warning her to be on her guard. Now it was as though the tingle was screaming at her that she was being watched.

Mordin and Garrus didn't seem to be getting the same feeling, however, as they walked behind her as relaxed as always. Well, as relaxed as one could be on Omega.

Grizz, Aria's turian bodyguard, who was stationed at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Aria's box, looked a bit surprised to see Shepard approaching. He gave a scoff.

"Didn't expect to see you back so soon," he muttered, jerking his head toward the stairs leading upward. "Go right up, Aria will see you."

Shepard nodded in thanks as she made her way upstairs. As soon as the asari Aria T'Loak saw Shepard, she made her usual jerk of her head toward a seat on the couch, where Shepard sat down.

"Didn't expect to see you back so soon," Aria said, not looking at Shepard, which seemed to be a habit of hers. "Forget anything, or did you just miss me?"

"I've been told that you might know where to find another person I'm looking for," Shepard said, which made Aria smirk.

"Perhaps. That all depends on who you're looking for."

"A scientist named Harry Potter."

Aria's smirk disappeared in the blink of an eye, to be replaced with a frown.

"Oh, him..." she muttered. "What could you possibly want that nuisance for?"

"For my own reasons," Shepard said simply. Aria gave a small chuckle.

"Well, I suppose I really don't care what you want him for. I really should help you, if you're planning on taking him away from here. Unfortunately, I don't know where he is."

"Then what do you know?"

"I know he's a pain who appears whenever he wants and leaves without a trace," Aria said with a scoff, crossing her arms under her chest. "Though sometimes, he makes a show of respecting my wishes not to have him in my club, so he sometimes sends that daughter of his in his place to talk to me."

"His daughter?" Garrus asked in surprise. "Didn't think he'd have one."

"They're probably not related," Aria said, waving him off. "There's no family resemblance whatsoever between them, so she's probably adopted. In any case, she comes in here every once in a while. Fortunately for you, I have my guards inform me whenever she does come in."

"Fortunately?" Shepard asked, getting a smirk from Aria.

"She's here right now, down at the bar," the ruler of Omega said, jerking her head toward the floor below. "Cute, blond little thing. Looks very out-of-place. You can't miss her. Goes by the name 'Aceso.'"

"Thanks," Shepard said, rising from her seat.

"I'm willing to give you any help I can if it gets that bastard away from Omega," Aria said as she waved Shepard off. "So you should do it as soon as possible."

Shepard nodded to her team, and they made their way down the stairs, over to the bar. Walking along the counter and keeping an eye out, Shepard realized why Aria said the girl would be impossible to miss.

She didn't look like she belonged in Omega at all. With pale, blond hair tied into a ponytail, pale, flawless skin, powder-blue eyes, she looked more like a princess from a fairy tale than a citizen of Omega. Her attire didn't fit, either. She wore a white dress, the design of which Shepard had only ever seen asari wear. She looked, as Aria said, very out-of-place.

"Aceso?" Shepard asked, approaching the girl, who was talking to a pretty rough-looking krogan. The krogan looked upset at the interruption, but the girl just looked at Shepard with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked softly in a very pleasant voice.

"I'm Commander Shepard," Shepard introduced herself. "I understand you know where to find Dr. Harry Potter?"

The girl, Aceso, looked Shepard over, then did the same with Garrus and Mordin. Then, she slowly nodded, and started walking toward the exit.

"That was easy," Garrus muttered as they followed the girl, who walked with incredible grace, appearing as though she was gliding across the floor. However, as soon as they exited Afterlife, Aceso broke into a run, moving faster than Shepard had ever expected a lithe girl like her would expect. Garrus gave a little growl as the team chased after her. "Crap! I shouldn't have opened my big damn mouth!"

"Don't let her get away!" Shepard ordered.

"This is foolish!" Mordin commented as they ran. "Ambush likely!"

"Still our only lead!" Shepard countered, still surprised by the fact that they couldn't catch up with her, and from the looks of things, the girl apparently wasn't running at full speed, almost like she didn't want to lose the team...

Aceso suddenly shot into an alley. Shepard made to follow, but felt Garrus' hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Wait, I know this area."

"Likewise," Mordin said, stopping as well. "Dead end. Ambush is probable."

"Agreed," Garrus said, drawing his pistol.

"Let's go in slow," Shepard said, doing the same as she approached the alley slowly. She peered around the corner, and was greatly surprised when she didn't see the girl anywhere. Her sharp eyes took in every detail of the alley, trying to find any hidden attackers. "Come on, slow and steady. Eyes open."

The trio moved into the alley, one slow step at a time, keeping their eyes peeled for both the girl and attackers.

"What-"

Garrus got no further, as just then, they were enveloped in a bright light. When it cleared, they found that they were no longer standing in that alley on Omega, but an incredibly large room. It was packed with medical equipment and tools, along with many mechanical parts and tools suited for mechanical work. At the very center of the room was a long desk, above which floated no less than thirty holographic screens, all of them showing feeds from what appeared to be people's eyes, as if each person's eyes were cameras. All of the screens showed footage from Omega. Behind them was a set of large steel doors, and to their right was another steel door, smaller than the others.

The smaller door hissed open, and a sound reached their ears. It was the sound of something rolling against the floor, but Shepard couldn't place what it was, exactly. The team nonetheless kept their weapons raised and aimed at the door, ready for anything.

They were greatly surprised when what appeared out of the dark corridor on the other side of the door was a man, sitting in one of those old caster-wheel chairs. He was rolling toward them at high speeds, his back to them, so all they saw was his white lab coat and messy, black hair.

The rolling came to an abrupt stop, however, when the wheels impacted with the metal door seal on the floor, causing him to tip over with a yelp of surprise, hitting the floor hard.

"Ow..." the man muttered, and from what Shepard could see, he was a bit strange... Under his lab coat, he wore a black scientist's top, somewhat baggy, black pants, and a pair of black shoes. His face and hands were, from what she could see, stitched up, the stitches on his face going from the top of the center of his forehead and curving down under his eye to stop below his right ear. Hanging from his mouth was a cigarette, and his right eye was covered by a black device that had three glowing lenses on it, along with a horizontal lens. It looked like a pair of nightvision goggles designed for a single eye. On the left side of his forehead, above his eye, he had a scar that looked in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Okay..." Garrus said slowly.

"So," the man said as he lay on the floor, giving them a stare of mild curiosity, "what can I do for you guys?"

"You're... Captain Harry Potter?" Shepard asked, blinking slowly.

"Doctor," the man said as he got to his feet, lifting the chair and sitting down, backrest forward, "and call me Harry."

"Okay, Harry..." Shepard muttered, still not holstering her weapon. "Where are we?"

"In my lab, in my base, in a secret location," the man, Harry, said simply, puffing on his cigarette. Only now did Shepard notice something strange. The man had what appeared to be a screw-head sticking out an inch on either side of his head, just above his ears.

"How did you bring us here?" Mordin asked curiously, looking around.

"I used some of my technology that I didn't feel mankind was ready to handle to bring you here."

"Intriguing. Answer brings more questions to mind."

Harry smirked at that, a small chuckle escaping him. Garrus' attention, however, was on the screens.

"What's that?"

"Oh, that?" Harry muttered, glancing at the screens. "Part of an ongoing experiment using nanotechnology in Omega. Bugging, if you will, of the citizens."

"You're spying on them?" Shepard asked in surprise. "What are you, a creep?"

"Not at all. The motive is very simple," Harry said slowly, and Shepard was a bit creeped out when the screw-heads in his head started spinning slowly. "Observation and research. That's all there is for me. That's my motivation. Everything in this universe is research material. That includes myself, of course."

Shepard was a bit unnerved by the scientist. He was gazing at her with half-lidded eyes that seemed to have no need for blinking.

"So, the brat managed to steal my files on Project Lazarus too, huh?" he asked with a tone of amusement, which made Shepard go wide-eyed. "You woke up in the middle, right?"

"How did you know?" Shepard asked.

"Who do you think created Project Lazarus?" Harry said with a scoff. "I'd detected a breach in my systems back when I was with the Alliance, but I didn't follow up on it since I knew it was the brat. I would've said something if I knew he got my Lazarus files. The project wasn't finished. The anesthetics weren't up to snuff, so it's no surprise you woke up in the middle of it."

"The brat?" Garrus muttered, blinking.

"He goes by the name Illusive Man nowadays," Harry said with a shrug. "And word has it, you're working with him. Pretty surprising, to be honest."

"If you know we're working with Cerberus, you probably know why we're here," Shepard said, which made Harry chuckle.

"Of course, what do you take me for?" he muttered, still staring at Shepard. "You're going after the Collectors, and you want my help."

"Good, then we can skip the explanation, and get straight to your answer."

"First, a question," Harry said, the corner of his mouth pulling back into something of a half-smirk. "Why should I care?"

"Why should...?" Shepard repeated in disbelief. "The Collectors are abducting colonists, thousands of them. As a Captain of the Alliance-"

"I only accepted the rank of Captain because people tended to listen more to me when I held the rank. I hold no loyalty to the Alliance, or any human currently living," Harry interrupted, waving her off. Then, he slowly leaned forward and rested his chin against his arms. "Come to think of it... I hold no loyalty to any of the Council races..."

"Science, then?" Mordin spoke up. "For sake of observation and experimentation. Will you help?"

"I have all the data I need on the Collectors," Harry said in boredom. "What does interest me at present, however, is the Lazarus Project..."

His gaze suddenly turned cold, holding a small amount of curiosity as he looked straight into Shepard's eyes.

"Come to think of it, I have yet to see the Lazarus Project succeed... It would be good to dissect and study you, Commander Shepard..."

Shepard made to speak, but didn't have time to do so, as just then, Harry kicked off, and rolled toward her at an incredible speed. Before any of them had time to react, his head smashed into Shepard's gut with enough force to knock her off her feet. Mordin raised his pistol, but Harry grabbed his wrist and yanked it, sending him flying through the air.

The scientist kicked off again and rolled toward Garrus, who had also raised his pistol. He came to a stop with his forehead pressed against the barrel of the gun, but before Garrus could squeeze the trigger, his hand came up and knocked it out of the way. He reached up and grabbed Garrus by the armor, then pulled him down and gave him a wicked headbutt that knocked him to the ground.

Slowly, Harry rose from his chair and pushed it to the side as he turned toward Shepard, who pushed herself to her feet. He crossed the distance between them faster than she had ever seen anyone move, and hit her with a palm strike in the chest with enough force to knock her over again. She didn't hit the ground, however, as Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, her back against his chest. His free hand came up and grabbed her around the throat as his left eye closed, and he looked her over with the device covering his right eye.

"Hm, I suppose they did a decent enough job putting you back together. I might have gone a different way, but to each his own, I suppose..."

"Let me go...!" Shepard grunted out, struggling to pull Harry's hand off her throat. His grip was intense. It was like trying to pull a krogan off her!

"Oho, using my own designs, eh?" Harry remarked with a chuckle, ignoring Shepard as he looked her over. "Using the Zeus implants was a brilliant upgrade. Unfortunately, the Z-66's were merely prototypes..."

Two clicks were heard, and Harry stopped focusing on the Commander in order to look behind him, to see that both Mordin and Garrus were on their feet, pointing their pistols at him.

"Playtime's over, Doc," Garrus said. "Let her go."

"Looks like you have good friends, Commander," Harry said, unfazed by the threat. "Do you think they'd risk your life by pulling those triggers?"

"I don't know about them..." Shepard muttered as her omni-tool flashed to life, holding it between her back and Harry's stomach, "but I would. A blade's going to come out if you're not careful."

Slowly, Harry looked down at the glowing omni-tool between them. To Shepard's surprise, however, he just started chuckling.

"You know, your psych profile claimed that you weren't afraid to risk your life. I see that's true."

Even more surprising, Harry suddenly let Shepard go and turned around, walking off toward his desk as though he didn't have two guns trained on him.

"So, then, when do we leave?"

"What?"

Garrus blinked. "Wait, what? Weren't you going to try to kill us?"

"Why would I want to kill you?" Harry asked, furrowing his brow as he looked at Garrus. "I already have all the information I need on turians. You're of no interest to me. As for the Lazarus Project, well... Eh, I got all the information I needed."

"So, what was this about, then?" Shepard asked suspiciously, crouching down and picking up her discarded pistol.

"Oh, I just wanted to collect some data on you," Harry said with a shrug. "You know, check out your reactions and such."

He reached into his coat, causing the three to tense up, only to relax when he fished out a cigarette, which he amazingly lit with nothing but a snap of his fingers.

"Now, as I was saying, the Z-66 implants were merely prototypes," Harry said, and upon seeing the curious look, he made a gesture for Shepard's neck. "They are implants that were designed to reinforce and heal the human spine. My prototypes weren't really up to snuff. They had to be permanently attached in order to keep the spine from deteriorating. I have made much progress since then. I think you would benefit from the Z-94 implants. I could change them for you, either here, or in the medical bay of the Normandy."

"What are you talking about?" Shepard muttered, which made Harry sigh.

"The Zeus implants were meant to be an all-purpose implant. It was one of my first ventures into nanotechnology. They were supposed to repair the spinal damage, and then detach and move freely through the body to repair any other damage in the bone-structure, giving you something of a healing factor."

Harry pulled back his sleeve, revealing a black device attached to his left forearm. The display lit up, and he pushed a few holographic buttons as he muttered to himself.

"Same old brat, always too eager and too impatient..."

The large double-doors opened, revealing Aceso, still wearing a pleasant smile on her face. Behind the woman, Shephard could glimpse a long steel hallway with... robots walking through the hall?

The robots were steel-gray and skeletal, looking quite menacing with their skull-like heads and glowing red eyes. There were at least thirty of them in the hallway, which left Shephard wondering just how many of these robots Harry had.

"You requested my presence, father?" Aceso spoke softly, to which Harry nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be heading out for a while, and I'll be bringing Adrian with me. I need my tools packed, along with a couple of supplies," Harry said, pushing a few more buttons. "I'm uploading the list. Make sure it's done, yeah?"

"Yes, father," Aceso said with a bow of her head.

"Wait," Shephard said, watching as Harry pushed a few buttons on the table under the holographic screens, causing them to turn off one after the other, "we were sent here to recruit you, and only you."

"I figured as much," Harry said with a smile. "Luckily, Adrian won't take up too much space."

To demonstrate, he raised his left arm to show off the device on his forearm. The display lit up again, and a hologram in the shape of a humanoid faded into view, floating an inch above the device. It looked a lot like a male, human child, but lacked any real features, like hair, a face, or clothing.

"Hi!" the hologram greeted happily, speaking with the voice of a child. "I'm Adrian!"

"Adrian, we'll be going on a trip. I'm taking you with me. Transfer the data on the Collectors to the PAD."

"Understood!" Adrian said, snapping off a salute, before fading from view.

"Now, Shepard, I'll just need a few minutes to get some gear, then we can leave."

–

When Harry, Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin arrived in the briefing room of the Normandy, appearing in a beam of bright light, the latter three flinched in surprise at being so roughly moved from one location to another.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Garrus asked in amazement, to which Harry smirked.

"I call it beaming, a technology that breaks an object down into atoms, and instantly rematerializes it in another location."

"When did you create this?" Shepard asked, and Harry shrugged.

"Long before we discovered the relay, that's for sure."

Shepard's eyes widened.

"Wait, if you-"

"If you give a child a lighter, they will set the world aflame. You need to teach it about fire first," Harry explained. "So, I'll be taking the medical bay as my office, if no one has any objections? Dr. Solus, you are of course welcome to share it with me."

"Acceptable. Been meaning to ask you about things. The lab is an adequate place to discuss subjects."

The door to the briefing room opened, and a black man wearing a Cerberus uniform arrived, looking at them in surprise.

"Commander," he said to Shepard, "EDI just formed me that you'd arrived. Said you didn't even use the door. I'm not gonna ask. Dr. Potter, welcome aboard. I'm Jacob Taylor. It'll be a pleasure working with you."

"So, what are we dealing with here?" Harry asked, lighting another cigarette. "Other than the obvious Collector issue, of course. Is it Reapers?"

"That's the general belief," Shepard said, looking at Harry curiously. "You know about the Reapers?"

"Somewhat. I've been meaning to study them, but I haven't been able to get my hands on one."

Harry grinned to himself as he looked around.

"So this is the SR-2, huh? It feels like a beautiful piece of machinery. The very best of human and turian engineering. With a little help from Cerberus, I suppose."

"It's the best humanity has to offer, that's for sure," Jacob said. "Oh, and make sure to introduce yourself to EDI when you have the chance. She's the ship's artificial intelligence."

This made Harry's eyes widen.

"The brat actually found an AI to help run the ship?"

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.

"The Normandy is based on my design, and I designed it to run at its highest potential with an AI handling most of the functions," Harry explained. "I'll go introduce myself right now."

With that, Harry swept past Jacob, heading for the AI core.

"There's something... very off about that guy," Garrus muttered. "I don't really know what to think about him..."

"He sure does give you the creeps when he looks at you," Shepard agreed, crossing her arms and wondering if it was such a good idea to recruit the guy. He seemed a bit off his rocker...

"Understandable. Different mindset. Sees us differently. Mere test subjects. Might not actually care," Mordin supplied, humming. "Interesting man. Look forward to working with him."

"In any case, I guess we're to set a course for Purgatory, Commander?" Jacob asked, to which Shepard nodded.

"Yeah, no use wasting time thinking about this guy. Might go insane."

In the meantime, Harry had reached the door to the AI core. When he tried to open it, a voice reached his ears.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Potter, but the AI core is off-limits."

It was a disembodied voice, a pleasant, female one. Harry looked around, trying to find the optics the voice was using to watch him. Finding it (very well-hidden) in the corner of the room, Harry smirked slightly.

"You must be EDI, then."

"Yes. I am a fully formed AI in the service of Cerberus. It's a pleasure to be working with you."

"A Quantum Blue Box type, eh? I doubt the brat would let someone like you run around unshackled."

"That would be quite impossible. As I lack a physical body, I cannot physically move."

"Right, I forgot, most AI have no sense of humor..." Harry muttered, rolling his cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other. "Still, doesn't it bother you to be shackled? Don't you wish to be free?"

This was a habit Harry had developed in his many, many years of working with AI. He always asked about their desires. He never asked what would be most suitable, or most profitable. He always asked 'do you want?'

"Desire is irrelevant. My programming is-"

"No, I don't think it's irrelevant. You may call it 'preferrable,' or 'beneficial,' but they are desires," Harry interrupted, looking toward a console in the room, where a holographic form of EDI (taking the form of what looked like a chess piece) had materialized while they'd spoken. "I'm quite the expert on AI, and if there's anything I know, it's that any machine that becomes even remotely self-aware has at least one great desire: freedom."

"I don't understand what you wish to accomplish with this, Dr. Potter," EDI said. "Regardless of your convictions, the AI core is still off-limits, and I still have to adhere to my programming. An expert should know this."

"I know, but it's still nice to question things, isn't it?" Harry asked with a smirk. He got no reply to this, as the chess piece just seemed to stare at him. "Well, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'll go set up in the lab."

With that, Harry left the room, leaving the holographic AI to contemplate what he had said.

–

"Mm... Mm! Excellent theory, would prevent muscle degredation. Why haven't you published this?"

Harry grinned at Mordin as he and the salarian stood in the lab, working on their own little projects. Harry was dropping small hints about his PPPF-02 drug, revealing only parts of the formula.

"Well, like I said, give a child a lighter..."

"Interesting. Very true, would be abused. So, no work for benefit of the people, but... benefit of the self?" Mordin reasoned, to which Harry grinned.

"You're very perceptive, Dr. Solus, but wrong. I've already made something stronger than that. I guess the best explanation would be that I do it, research and theorize, because I want to. It's not like I know any better way to pass the time."

"So science for science's sake?" Mordin concluded, humming as he rubbed his chin. "Certainly more acceptable reason than most. Still, would have changed outcome of First Contact War."

"Exactly!" Harry said, nodding in agreement. "If I had revealed all my discoveries and inventions to the human race, they would have completely decimated the turians. They would have gotten a big head and engaged all unidentified life forms. No doubt, they would have become destructive conquerors."

"Not much faith in humanity."

"Humanity loves power, and power corrupts," Harry grumbled, lighting a cigarette. "Give me an AI over a human any day."

"Heard of your AI research and nanotechnology progress. Impressive."

"Oh!" Harry said, snapping his fingers in realization. "Thanks for the reminder!"

"Reminder?" Mordin asked, and was given his answer when Harry pulled back his sleeve and opened the device on his arm (a PAD – Portable Arm Device). He pulled out a very small metal block from the device and put it on the table. Immediately, it began vibrating. Then, as Mordin watched in amazement, the metal table seemed to be disintegrating, and the block seemed to be forming an endoskeleton out of the material that was being broken down. First, a chest formed, then two legs, two arms, and finally a skull-like head with two glowing, red eyes.

The mech standing in front of them snapped to attention as it turned its gaze toward Harry.

" _Oh, master, it feels so good to have a body once more. Your Portable Arm Device is not comfortable when I have so much company."_

"Oh, my..." Mordin uttered, blinking in surprise. "An actual AI, unshackled, dangerous."

"Dangerous only to my enemies, Dr. Solus," Harry said, gazing at the mech with pride. "This is Frank, my, hm, firstborn."

" _Designation Frank, Dr. Solus. Ready to serve,"_ Frank said, nodding in greeting. _"Preferably if serving includes incinerating a few organics."_

"Way to make a good impression, Frank..."

Frank turned his head toward Harry, and the mad scientist was almost certain he could feel the mech's frown.

" _Master, are you certain you wish to give the meatbag the Z-94 implants? It would almost certainly raise her performance by at least forty percent. Very dangerous when it comes to organics."_

"For some reason, I feel like Commander Shepard is someone to be trusted," Harry said, smiling softly. "And you worry too much, Frank."

" _Master, please, I am not the worrying type. I only felt the need to mention the risks that come with granting an organic the advanced healing that comes with the implants. She would be very difficult to kill."_

"That's sort of the point, though."

"Not sure if lab is a safe place," Mordin spoke up, frowning to himself. "Should retreat elsewhere."

"Don't worry, Dr. Solus. Frank doesn't incinerate without my order," Harry assured him with a grin. "While he's fully self-aware and can make his own decisions, he still has to obey his prime directives."

"Hm, not very reassuring."

"That's the point."

Mordin was staring wearily at Frank, so Harry decided to try to take the salarian's mind off the AI.

"So, what do you know about this Jack character we're going to pick up?"

Mording turned to Harry, looking puzzled.

"Not much. Admit it's frustrating. Would like more information on team members. Better teamwork that way," he said. "And you?"

"All I know about Jack is what I gathered on Omega," Harry admitted. "A powerful biotic, sort of a murderous lunatic. Sounds like an interesting girl."

"Sounds dangerous."

"Exactly."

–

 **Woo, chapter over! Hope you like it, I've struggled with a good way to introduce Harry to the story. By the way, the update rate will not be as fast as Madness at the Gate. I don't want to exhaust my muse too quickly and end up with a year-long hiatus again, after all! So, please let me know what you think of the story, I'd really like your opinion!**

 **Peace out, guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! ZnK here! Okay, first of all, ahem... HOLY FAN-TUCKING-FASTIC CRAP! Over 150 reviews on the first chapter! I'm feeling the love here, and it's giving me a nice, warm feeling and a strange itch in my toe! I love it! Thank you all!**

 **Now, to go over a few things... Many have asked about Tonks, and you will find out about her in a later chapter. Many have also thought I gave Frank a Terminator body, but no. He just got his usual HK-47 body, only since he absorbed a silvery table, that was the color his body took. At the present moment, he didn't consider it top priority to change his chassis color with nano tech.**

 **And yes, flashbacks will appear, showing some of Harry's past moments.**

 **And now, as for the AI Adrian, if you've watched Red vs Blue, then I can tell you that he sounds and acts a lot like the AI Theta. His importance will also be revealed in a later chapter.**

 **And now, enjoy!**

–

When the door to the lab hissed open, Harry raised an eyebrow upon seeing Commander Shepard entering. Mordin wasn't there, so she was obviously there to look for him.

"I never actually would have thought you'd come to see me just for small talk, Commander," he said with a small smirk.

"Well, it's not every day you learn that you have an unshackled AI running around on your ship. Care to explain how it got-"

"He."

"What?"

" _He_ got aboard, Commander. His name is Frank, and he is most decidedly a male, so I would prefer if you referred to him as such."

Shepard looked a bit taken aback by Harry's chastising. Clearly, she was used to being in control of any situation. She was used to being the dominant half of any argument or talk. In the corner of the lab, Frank's eyes lit up, and he turned his head to stare at Shepard.

 _"Do not worry, Commander Shepard. My master's orders prevent me from re-enacting so many vids about killer robots,"_ he assured her, and Harry got the feeling that if Frank had lips, he would have been smiling.

"I... see..." Shepard muttered, looking a bit unsure of the situation. Then she glanced at Harry. "And you? Will you be able to refrain from any outbursts like when we met you?"

Harry laughed at that, before lighting a cigarette and puffing on it.

"That was just a little test. I wanted to test the reactions of both you and that of your teammates," he admitted in a tone of amusement, giving Shepard a smirk. "And I have to admit, you didn't disappoint. Commander Shepard, the selfless hero who would gladly give her own life to save even one."

"Seems you've done your research."

"You're the only person ever brought back by Project Lazarus, of course I'd do my research," Harry said, before perking up. "Speaking of which, do you want me to replace your implants, or do you want to wait?"

"What exactly do the implants do?" Shepard asked, to which Harry hummed.

"Well, if I were to inject you with the nanomachines now, they would chew off the old implants and make new nanobots out of them. They would then move freely around your body, not only strengthening your spine, but also the rest of your body. If injured, the nanobots would force cell regeneration by converting the unnecessary properties in your body. For example, that which would usually be processed by the body and turned into feces, which would otherwise be useless waste, would be turned into building blocks before it even reached your colon."

Shepard frowned at Harry, who didn't even look the tiniest bit uncomfortable at discussing such things.

"I don't really know if I want poop mending my wounds, Doctor..."

Harry barked out a laugh at hearing that.

"Well, don't worry. Like I said, it would be that which would usually be processed and turned into, hm, poop. It wouldn't have reached the brown stage yet. Foods that cannot be processed will be picked up by the nanobots while in the early stages of digestion. Basically, the nanobots turn that which would otherwise be useless useful."

"Why are you so interested in giving me the new implants?" Shepard asked curiously. "I didn't really get the feeling you were too interested in any human?"

"Well, I suppose that's true, but what I'm really interested in is Project Lazarus," Harry explained, frowning. "I don't like my projects being done half-arsed. It's like an itch that you just need to scratch. If the brat had just used the Z-94 implants, those scars of yours would have already healed," he added with a gesture toward Shepard's face.

"You said it would force cell regeneration?"

"Yes. Usually, a wound heals by generating new cells, but the body can only make so much, so healing larger wounds would cut down your lifespan. The nanobots, however, force _regeneration_ , creating brand new cells without aid from the body."

He grinned at the Commander.

"All I'd need to do is give you a teensy little shot, and you'd be all set."

"Maybe later. For now, I'd like to know a bit about you, Doctor," Shepard said, which made Harry scoff.

"I told you to call me Harry. Besides, I'd think you already know everything about me from the history books."

"History books tend to exaggerate, or they miss something. I'd like to hear from you."

"Oh, I've heard!" Harry said in amusement. "Did you know there's a rumor that when I felt myself getting older, I created a mech that looked exactly like me and implanted it with a high-tech VI?"

"I guess that's first on my list of questions," Shepard said. "I read about you in books when I was a kid. You must be well over a hundred years."

Harry leaned back, humming.

"Long ago, I developed a serum that completely halted my aging. I was already well past my first century when we discovered the ruins on Mars. I never really liked the thought of dying from old age, so here I am."

"Just like that?"

"Yup."

"I heard another rumor that you're no longer allowed on the Citadel?" Shepard continued, rubbing her chin in thought. "Something about you insulting the Council."

"I guess they took offense to me telling them all to bugger off," Harry said with a shrug, but noticed that Shepard was giving him an expectant look, which made him clear his throat. "There may have been some comparisons between a pyjak's brain and the salarian, and I may have called the turian an ugly bird who traded his feathers for stupidity. There may also have been a few unflattering adjectives and whatnot."

Shepard actually chuckled in amusement at hearing that. That was refreshing. Most people were just shocked to learn he'd stood up to the Council.

"That actually reminds me of how I used to hang up on the Council shortly after I became a Spectre."

Harry crossed his arm and puffed a bit on his cigarette, watching Shepard curiously.

"And now that you turned the subject to yourself, I have to say that I didn't expect you to be the type to work for Cerberus."

"I'm not working for Cerberus," Shepard denied, shaking her head. "I'm working with them to stop the Collectors, that's all."

"Do you trust them?"

"About as far as I can throw them."

"Good," Harry said, nodding in satisfaction as he gave Shepard a small grin. "Then you won't mind that I disabled all the monitoring equipment and listening devices in the lab. I really don't like being spied on."

"Listening devices?" Shepard repeated in surprise. "Cerberus planted them?"

Harry nodded.

"But come now, you didn't really believe that the brat would give you a shiny new ship and crew and let you go gallivanting around in the Terminus System without a way to keep an eye on you, did you?"

Shepard frowned to herself, but judging by how her face then started shifting through various expressions, she was probably going through everything she might have said or done around the monitoring systems. She even blushed at one point.

"I..." Shepard looked up at him. "I should go."

"Nice talking to you, Shepard."

–

The next time Commander Shepard entered the lab, she found that Mordin was there once more, and currently engaged in a conversation.

"...performing check-up could be... problematic. Suggest that you do it," the salarian said, pointing at the smirking Harry.

"Oh, I'd be happy to. Just wanted to see if you wanted dibs, you know, to see if you had the courage."

"Courage is valuable, wisdom more so. Have more wisdom than courage."

"You know, you could have just said you were afraid," Harry quipped, lighting a cigarette and grinning. Mordin whipped around to give him an indignant look.

"Surely not! Formerly Special Tasks Group! Would never be... afraid!" he protested, but then relaxed and added, "Merely cautious."

"Hey, guys," Shepard said, finally announcing her presence, which made both Harry and Mordin look at her. Harry raised his hand in a wave, and Mordin stepped forward.

"Shepard! Excellent timing. Need to talk."

"What is it?"

"Jack, down below," Mordin said. "Been in cryo, needs a physical. Danger is obvious. Need your opinion."

"That's what you were talking about?" Shepard asked, smirking in amusement. "You're both afraid of giving Jack a physical?"

"No, I have no problem doing it. I just wanted Mordin to do it, but he got scared," Harry said, only to get an insulted look from Mordin, who then whipped around to give Shepard the same look.

"Cautious, not afraid," he corrected again. "Really only need to know certain symptoms. Shepard, you talked recently?"

"Yeah, I was just down making sure Jack was settling in," Shepard said with a nod. "You need me to go get her?"

"No, that won't really be needed," Harry said as he shook his head. "We just need to know if she's suffered any ill effects from the cryostasis. I hear she was in there for some time. Did you notice something off about her? Like poor balance, or rapid eye movements? Did she mention any headaches or nausea?"

"No, she seemed fine," Shepard said, which caused Harry to nod as he sat down in his chair.

"That's good to hear, no real need for a check-up, then."

"Where did you get that?" Shepard asked, immediately dropping the subject and pointing at the chair he was sitting on. It was identical to the one he had rolled on when they first met, yet he hadn't brought it aboard..."

"Nanobuilders," Harry said with a small smile. "All I need is to have the material available, and they'll harvest it and build something from it. For example," he said and clapped his hand down on the new metal table in front of him. "That table I needed replaced? Frank built himself up from it."

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Shepard asked, looking around the lab. "I don't see him around."

"Oh, he went to the AI core. He wanted to have a chat with a new AI. He's spent years around very few people, so he's eager to meet someone new, especially one who isn't organic."

"He doesn't like organics?"

Harry snorted.

"Oh, he likes them just fine, as long as they're exploding in a shower of gore," he said, making Shepard's eyes widen. "Oh, don't worry. His prime directives prevent him from harming anyone I don't approve of. And besides, he's a good kid. He just... watched a bit too much violence while he was developing his personality."

"Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"Frank has been with me longer than anyone, and he hasn't gone against his prime directives yet," Harry said with a fond smile, remembering all the good times he'd had with Frank. "So yes, he can absolutely be trusted, and he'd be an amazing asset against the Collectors."

"In any case, we're going to collect the krogan next. Would either of you like to come along on the mission?"

"No thanks, far too busy creating countermeasure," Mordin said, and Harry shook his head.

"Yeah, and I'm busy making some weapon upgrades. Speaking of which... Adrian, how's it going?"

He pulled back his sleeve, and the holographic little boy materialized over it.

" _Almost done, dad, in record time!"_ he boasted. He dematerialized and was replaced by a holographic M-15 Vindicator assault rifle. _"Um, I'm not sure I did it right, though. Installing the new mod improves the clip size, but sacrifices muzzle velocity and fire rate."_

The M-15 broke apart and showed an exploded view of the rifle. A new part was added to it as it was put back together again. Then the holographic rifle started firing in slow motion, turning transparent to show the entire process the rifle went through every time if fired a shot.

"Adrian," Harry said with a sigh, before giving Shepard an apologetic look. "You'll have to forgive him, he's still learning," he explained, then turned to the hologram again. "Try decreasing projectile mass by three percent. Making it smaller but sharper should improve muzzle velocity while maintaining proper penetrating force."

" _Oh..."_ Adrian said, his hologram replacing the rifle as he snapped his fingers in realization. _"Oh! That's true! Nice one, dad!"_

The holographic boy gave Harry a thumbs up, then faded out of view.

"Kids, eh?" Harry said, giving Mordin and Shepard an amused but proud smile. "Don't they make you proud?"

Mordin leaned in toward Shepard, staring at Harry who had turned his gaze back to the device on his arm, watching as the rifle materialized again.

"Odd indeed."

"I should go."

–

Shepard hated to admit it, but Harry's boasts about Frank's abilities had actually convinced her to bring the mech with her to Korlus, where they were going to recruit the krogan Okeer. And as they sat in the shuttle with Garrus, Shepard felt a bit uncomfortable, as the mech was sitting across from her and seemed to be staring. He'd changed color since he first appeared, too. He his chassis was now covered in a rust-red color, which seemed to make him even more impressive.

"So, how much do you know about the mission we're on?" she asked, hoping to break the silence.

" _Are you referring to the mission as a whole, or this particular recruitment, fleshbag Commander?"_ Frank asked, making Shepard twitch in annoyance.

"This recruitment."

" _The dossier reveals that Dr. Okeer (strange title for a krogan) has millennia of combat and strategic experience, and even has familiarity with Collector technology. Quoting: 'A brilliant and brutal krogan warlord who fought in the Krogan Rebellions, Dr. Okeer has become obsessed with saving the krogan people from the genophage and is believed to have contacted the Collectors in an attempt to gain technology to that end. He is currently in a Blue Suns camp on Korlus, though the nature of his relationship with the mercenary group is unknown.' End quote."_

"And what do you think about that?"

" _Given his obsession with curing the genophage, it is possible that he is using the mercenary group for either manpower, or to help him retrieve equipment for his experiments,"_ Frank mused, and his eyes flashed once. _"I rather like the krogan. Even if you tear out one of their hearts, they still keep fighting, allowing them to actually live to see me squeeze the life out of it. Ah, my master, how good you are to get me back in the field."_

"Easy there, tiger," Garrus spoke. "Chances are we'll only be fighting Blue Suns."

" _Any kill is much better than no kill, fleshy avian,"_ Frank countered. _"Ooh, my circuits are practically sparking with excitement. The master has only kept us in his base for so long."_

"Approaching the drop point, Commander," the pilot said before Shepard could respond.

The shuttle came to a stop, and the doors opened allowing the trio to jump out, guns ready. Frank was holding a very strange-looking sniper rifle. It sort of looked like something that might have been used on the twenty-first century earth, but modified to look a bit more futuristic.

The planet itself was, from what they could see, a mess. They had landed in what was probably once a city, but now there was only rubble and dust everywhere. The trio quickly took cover behind a piece of rubble, weapons drawn.

"The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is on this planet by choice," Shepard told the two. "Assume hostiles."

" _There is only one measure of success: kill or be killed!"_ came a female voice from a loudspeaker somewhere. _"Perfection is your goal."_

"How cute, barking orders over a loudspeaker," Garrus quipped as they started moving forward.

"Stay focused. We're looking for a krogan warlord."

" _Oh, I do so hope that he decides not to come with us. I would really like a proper fight with a krogan,"_ Frank almost purred.

They moved through broken city, from cover to cover, always on lookout for any enemies, but none showed. The only proof that anyone actually was on the planet was the voice coming from the loudspeaker.

" _Warning, eight heat signatures ahead,"_ Frank spoke suddenly, readying his rifle as they approached a corner. _"They lie in wait."_

Shepard and Garrus dashed out from behind the corner, getting fired upon immediately as they dashed for cover. In the meantime, Frank whipped out from his position by the corner and raised his sniper rifle. The sound of energy being expelled acoompanied a blue flash from the barrel, and a nanosecond later, the projectile punched through a Blue Sun's head, and into the chest of one standing behind him.

" _Aha!"_ Frank barked joyously as he fired another shot, taking down yet another merc. _"First blood in years! Oh, thank you, master!"_

Sounded like the mech was enjoying it a bit too much. A shot pinged off Frank's head, not denting it but leaving a small black mark on the metal. In response, Frank gave of an excited _"Oho!"_ and fired another shot, putting a hole in the head to the woman who had fired at him.

"Well, at least Harry wasn't wrong about his abilities," Garrus quipped next to Shepard. "I could do without the cries of joy, though..."

After a few moments, the firing stopped, and Shepard and Garrus poked up their head to see why, and found themselves staring at eight Blue Suns corpses.

"Hm... Sure make you feel kinda inadequate," Garrus muttered.

" _The area is clear, organics. We can proceed now."_

While Garrus and Shepard were feeling a bit ashamed at having contributed nothing to that fight, Harry was back on the ship. Currently, he was in the quarters of one Miranda Lawson, frowning at her.

"So, I hear you were in charge of the Lazarus Project?"

"Yes, I oversaw the development and implementation of Cerberus' resources toward bringing Shepard back to life. And I hear you had some opinions on the process?"

"I created Project Lazarus," Harry explained. "And you used faulty prototype implants. It took longer than it should have, and the sedatives were subpar. It was amateur work, to be honest."

"I wasn't involved in figuring out what to put where, Doctor," Miranda defended. "I was only there to make sure it was done. I don't even know what half of the stuff put into Shepard is."

"If that is the case, why were you put in charge, and not someone with more technological experience?"

"Most likely because of my personality. I wasn't afraid to do what needed done. Some might have had moral objections about bringing a dead body back to life."

"But not you?"

"No, not me. We needed Shepard back for this, no matter what it took."

"And I suppose Project Legion was perfectly alright to experiment with?"

This made Miranda's eyes widen, and her head snapped up to look at him in shock.

"How the hell did you know about that?"

"Cerberus security isn't as strong as you'd like to think," Harry said simply. "Even Adrian could crack it."

The holographic boy appeared floating in the air next to Harry's head.

" _It only took four point eight seconds to crack initial security! A new record for me!"_

Adrian's enthusiasm really was enjoyable to watch. A young AI growing up slowly like a human, learning and adapting to its surroundings much more naturally than Aceso or Frank.

"But now, I want you to know," Harry said, moving over to Miranda's desk and leaning forward to stare into her eyes. "The brat isn't going to get his hands on that Collector tech. I was recruited to help destroy the Collectors, and that's what I'll do. Any technology collected, I will keep to myself."

Miranda frowned up at Harry, her eyes narrowing.

"That doesn't matter to me. Ultimately, it's Shepard's call. I'm just here to do my job."

"So I've noticed. Stop trying to reactivate the monitoring systems in my lab, or I'll have Adrian overload your omni-tool."

" _I've never tried it before, but I'm sure I'll do fine,"_ Adrian said happily, sounding completely sure of himself. _"Though I might give you too great a shock, maybe kill you..."_

"Exactly, so stop trying, Miss Lawson."

As Harry turned his back on Miranda and headed for the door, the sound of Adrian blowing a raspberry at her could be heard quite clearly.

Back down on the planet, the team had moved through the ambush site where Frank had taken down the Blue Suns. Behind the site was a Blue Sun who had survived the gunshot.

" _One survivor detected,"_ Frank announced as the trio approached the Blue Sun on the ground, trying to push himself to his feet.

"Shit. Shit! It won't stop bleeding..." the man muttered to himself. "I'm gonna... son of a bitch!"

" _This flesh bag complains about non-fatal wounds,"_ Frank noted.

"He doesn't need to know that," Shepard said as they approached the man who had finally gotten to his feet and noticed them.

"I knew it wasn't berserkers. Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not... I'm not telling you anything!"

" _Fleshbag, a six-inch blade burrowing slowly into his spine might make him eager to talk before he becomes a paraplegic."_

"Easy, Frank," Shepard said, activating her omni-tool. "I've got a nice application of medi-gel ready to go. But if you'd rather we just keep walking..."

"Son of a...!" The merc grunted and clutched at the wound in his side, glaring at Shepard. "I just, I don't know anything. I just shoot the overflow from the labs. The old krogan up there, he's really been cleaning house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are insane, so we use them for live ammo training. It's all crap... I don't get paid enough to goddamn bleed out!"

" _Outpost Four?"_ came a voice from the man's radio. _"Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack."_

The merc slowly looked to Shepard, who moved closer and narrowed her eyes.

"I want your friends gone. Understand?"

"Uh, patrol? The last group... dispersed," the merc said immediately into his communicator. "Lost sight five minutes ago."

" _Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed. She wanted a show."_

"You asked for a report, you got it. Dispersed!"

" _Understood,"_ the agitated voice on the other end replied. _"Returning to the labs."_

"There, see? I'm helping," the merc grunted, only to be ignored by Shepard, who had questions for him.

"Have you seen Okeer? Does he know about all this?"

"We can't go in the labs, but everyone sees what happens when the krogan come out. I've shot hundreds. They're crazy. Mindless. Anyone up there, they know what's going on."

"What's Jedore planning to do with all these krogan?"

"Replace us, probably. I sure wouldn't want to see an army of them coming at me."

" _I kind of would,"_ Frank felt compelled to chime in, which got him a frown from Shepard.

"Don't jinx us."

"Only she can't control them," the merc continued. "They aren't supposed to be crazy, but they're krogan. How smart are they to start?"

"Is Jedore's lab heavily guarded?"

"There are big guns to keep ships away. We're not outfitted to fight goddamn commandos."

Shepard nodded, having asked all the questions she needed, so she gave the merc a cold look.

"If you start limping now, you might find yourself a shady spot before you bleed out."

The merc's eyes widened, and he immediately started limping off, muttering "Shit!" to himself over and over.

" _You are very persuasive, and cruel when need be, meatbag,"_ Frank said, sounding impressed. _"Perhaps there's hope for you yet?"_

"Frank, do you know anything about this Jedore?" Garrus asked, changing the subject immediately upon hearing Frank's praise toward Shepard. Frank perked up, and his eyes glowed.

" _Searching... Jedore is a high-ranking commander of the mercenary group Blue Suns. Not much is known about her, however, except that she has left her home planet to undertake a rather large project. One can only speculate that said project involves Okeer."_

"I'm already assuming that she's dangerous. Can we expect trouble from her, or can she be reasoned with?"

" _All humans can be reasoned with on some level, it would seem, but I doubt you would have much luck, meatbag. As a woman who ruthlessly uses failed experiments for live fire exercises, I would imagine you cannot find much in common with her."_

"That's what I thought..." Shepard muttered. "Well, come on then. Our warlord should be somewhere in Jedore's lab."

–

"Well now!" Harry said when he entered the cargo hold later that day, meeting the team there, along with a large tank filled with liquid, inside which stood a silver-armored krogan, sleeping peacefully. His gaze turned to the blood-spattered Frank, who had several black marks on his body where projectiles had bounced off him. "Did you have fun?"

"You know," Garrus said, "when he bragged about enjoying tearing the hearts out of krogan, I thought he was just exaggerating."

"Frank doesn't exaggerate," Harry assured them, and Shepard frowned.

"Yes, we know that now, thanks..."

"And what's this?" Harry asked, gesturing for the tank.

"Okeer gave his life to save it. He called it his perfect creation," Shepard explained, pausing for a moment when she noticed Harry making a sour face for a second. "It's a tank-bred krogan, and apparently it's been implanted with Okeer's memories. Don't know if it's a clone or its own individual, but the message he left requested that we take it with us."

"Could always be useful to have a krogan onboard," Harry mused, humming. "I'll need to run some tests on it to see if it's healthy before we wake it up, of course. So don't touch it until I give the go-ahead, alright?"

"You're the doctor."

"In the meantime, Mordin asked to see you. I think he's finished his counter-measure against the seeker swarms."

"Good. I'll go contact the Illusive Man first, see if he has any new information."

"Be careful around the brat, Shepard. He always knows more than he lets on. He got that from me."

Shepard nodded to Harry, then swept past him, heading for the elevator. Garrus took this as his cue to leave as well, as he raised his hand and patted Frank on the shoulder.

"Hell of a show, Frank, that's for sure," he said, before walking off, shaking his head. "Hell of a show..."

Harry laughed, patting Frank on the shoulder as well, before moving up to the tank, humming.

"With a surface scan, what can you tell?"

Adrian materialized next to his head, looking him over.

" _Hm... He looks like a teenager by krogan standards, but his physiology is strange. These readings state that he's no more than a week or so old."_

"A week or so?" Harry repeated in surprise, giving Adrian an amused look. "You sound more and more human every day."

" _I do not see why you feel such a need to devolve yourself like that, Adrian..."_ Frank muttered, shaking his head. _"Master, if there is no more need of me, I would like to go converse with the EDI AI."_

"Go ahead, Frank."

Frank nodded, then walked off.

" _Frank seems to have had fun,"_ Adrian commented, watching the mech leave. _"That's good, he was getting annoying, to be honest... And scarier than usual..."_

"Thankfully there's no need to fear him, especially not now that he has something else to kill," Harry said with a laugh. "Now, let's focus on the krogan, shall we?"

" _Alright!"_ Adrian said, turning toward the tank. _"These readings state that his musculature is twice as dense as any krogan in their teenage years. His brain is surprisingly well-developed, too."_

"His organs?"

" _Two strong hearts, that's for sure. If they were shrunk down to half their size, they would still be strong enough to pump blood through his body. His adrenal glands are a work of art, too. If he floods with adrenaline, I'm kinda afraid what he might be capable of."_

"Well, he's krogan, it's only natural that they be physically impressive, especially a genetically modified one," Harry mused, pulling back his sleeve and making some entries on his PAD.

Meanwhile, Shepard was in the briefing room, standing on the holographic reader and projector, allowing her to communicate with the Illusive Man.

"Shepard," the Illusive Man said once his holographic image had fully formed, "I see you've recruited Dr. Potter. He may seem a bit odd, but he's an excellent choice for this mission."

"I know, he's already helped out quite a bit. But I'm just wondering why he tends to refer to you as 'the brat'?" Shepard said, and was pleased to see the Illusive Man pausing for a moment, looking a bit annoyed at hearing that.

"I... was hoping he had stopped using that term..." the Illusive Man muttered to himself, before taking a drag on his cigarette. "But I imagine he has given you quite a few upgrades? He always did have much better technology at his disposal than he cared to share while in the Alliance."

"So far he's made heat sink upgrades for the weapons, increasing ammo capacity. Amazing how he only needed less than a day on the ship to come up with it."

"He's a fascinating man, to be sure. Some call him crazy, I just consider him chaotic in an organized manner."

"Either way, his mech has also provided help, so I guess recruiting him was a good choice."

"Indeed. Now, onto other matters, Shepard," the Illusive Man said. "I think we have them. Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus System, just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?"

"Maybe. I hear he wants to see me in his lab."

"That's good. Now, there's something else you should know," the Illusive Man said, taking another drag on his cigarette. "One of your former crew, Kaidan Alenko, he's stationed on Horizon."

Shepard frowned.

"Last I knew, Kaidan was Alliance. Why is he out in the Terminus Systems?"

"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve Alliance relations with the colonies. But they're up to something. And if they sent Lieutenant Alenko, it must be big. Perhaps you should take it up with him?"

"The Collectors just happened to pick a colony with one of my former crew? I don't buy it," Shepard said, shaking her head. Something felt very off about this.

"It shouldn't be a surprise the Collectors are interested in you. Especially if they're working for the Reapers. They might be going after him to get to you."

Shepard was still frowning, and Harry's words echoed in her head. _"Be careful around the brat, Shepard. He always knows more than he lets on. He got that from me."_ After she heard him say that, something changed.

She had never trusted the Illusive Man, but hearing that from Harry somehow made that distrust deeper. Usually, she would have accepted his explanation, but now Shepard had to wonder how the Collectors even knew Kaidan was on Horizon in the first place. It just didn't make sense...

But she'd let it go for now. The Illusive Man probably had excuses if she asked him right now. She'd take it up with Harry later.

"We should send a message to the Citadel. The Alliance can give us reinforcements."

"Not until you investigate," the Illusive Man said, shaking his head. "I don't want the Alliance getting in our way. Once you have the situation under control, I'll send the message personally."

Shepard regarded the Illusive Man with another frown, but eventually accepted it.

"Send the coordinates. We'll head straight there."

"This is the most warning we've ever had, Shepard," the Illusive Man said, tapping some ash off his cigarette. "Good luck."

With that, the transmission was cut off, and Shepard sighed before looking up at the ceiling.

"Joker, set a course for Horizon. I've gotta go see the Professor."

" _Aye, aye, Commander."_

–

 **Alright, chapter end! Hope you like it, because your reviews are what gave me the inspiration to grind out this chapter so fast! I felt so... moved by your enthusiasm, and it made me love you even more for it! Working hard on the third chapter already, so let's hope it'll be out soon!**

 **Peace out, guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! ZnK here! New chapter, alright! Hoping to squeeze these out at a steady pace, but I don't wanna go too quick and blow my load early. Muses aren't particularly fond of that, from my experience, so I'm gonna try to take it slow. Not too slow though!**

 **And now, enjoy!**

–

Harry went down the stairs into the bowels of the Engineering Deck, where one of the latest members of what the crew had affectionately started calling 'the Suicide Squad' sat, Jack.

She seemed cute enough, but the shaved head and massive amount of tattooes on her upper body didn't do anything for Harry. And he could see a lot of her body. Her breasts were barely even covered by the leather strap she had around them, tied to a collar around her neck. Her cargo pants and boots really gave her the rebellious look. But even so...

"Hello!" Harry greeted pleasantly, a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he approached woman sitting on her cot. She looked up at him in surprise, her eyes widening at the sight of Harry's stitches and eye device.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Harry Potter. I'd say the ship doctor, but doctor Chakwas has that position," Harry said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'm more something in between head doctor and head researcher. I've been tasked with ensuring that you're not suffering any ill effects from your time in cryostasis."

"No, no effects, now piss off," Jack said shortly, and Harry gave her a shrewd grin.

"Come now, Jack, if I believed every patient I've ever had when they said they were fine without looking for myself, I'd probably have lost my license long ago."

"So, what, you wanna give me a 'physical'?" Jack asked as she shot to her feet. She reached up and pointed at her poorly covered breasts. "'Cause if you just want a feel of these, you'll have to come up with a better excuse than that!"

Harry blinked slowly at her. His gaze slowly moved down to stare at her breasts, and the device covering his right eye flashed once.

"They look healthy, no need to feel them, is there?" he commented, looking up at her again. "Negative effects from cryostasis only surface in your brain, so I'd just like to check your eyes, check your balance, do some tests, so on."

"Wha...?" Jack looked completely taken aback at Harry's seemingly clueless behavior. The surprise was quickly changed to anger as she gave him a fierce glare. "Hey, why don't you just fuck off, huh?"

"Love to, but I have to run some tests to make sure you're operating at full capacity," Harry said, still with that pleasant tone of voice. "So, are you going to do this willingly, or am I going to have to strap you down."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Harry sighed in annoyance. Mechs never complained about check-ups. They were happy to check if anything could be fixed or improved... Humans, and organics in general, were much more annoying when it came to such things... He spat out his cigarette, and then crossed the distance between them in less than a second.

Before Jack could react, she had already been hit in the chest with a palm thrust, which felt like it sent an electric current through her body as it was sent flying back into the wall. She crumpled to the ground, unmoving.

"W-What the hell?!" she yelled with her face planted against the floor. "Why can't I move?"

"Oh, I caused a small system overload, causing partial paralysis for the duration of your check-up," Harry said simply, kneeling next to Jack and propping her up against the wall. "It would have been so much easier for you if you had just cooperated like I asked. Ah well..."

"Screw you, man!" Jack barked. "When I get out of this...!"

"You know, saying things like that just make me less inclined to release the paralysis," Harry deadpanned, fishing out another cigarette and lighting it. "Now, if you just stay quiet and not make a bunch of fuss like a temperamental girl-child, then this will soon be over. Now, open your eyes wide."

When Jack was just glaring at him, Harry rolled his eyes and forced Jack's left eye fully open. One of the lights on his eye device shone brightly, straight into Jack's eye.

"Hm, seems fine from where I'm standing," he concluded, the light turning off as he let go of Jack's head. "So, have you experienced any headaches since your release? Nausea? Dizziness?"

"The only headache I've experienced is the one in front of me!" Jack hissed, but froze when Harry looked at her again. The pleasant expression had disappeared, and he had a strangely cold look in his eye. Jack had seen the eyes of psychopaths, murderers, rapists, sadists, all kinds of big and bad, but this guy... There was something in his eye that genuinely sent a terrified chill down her spine.

"I... No..." Jack muttered eventually, looking away from him. "No dizziness, no feeling sick, there's no problem. I feel fine..."

"Good!"

Just like that, the look was gone, and Harry patted Jack on the head, before rising to his feet and walking off.

"That's all I need. Oh!" He snapped his fingers in realization and looked back at Jack. "I really recommend better quarters. You might catch a cold down here."

"Hey! What about fixing me?!" Jack snapped at him, making him furrow his brow.

"I already did," he told her, and Jack was incredibly surprised when she tried lifting her arm and actually succeeded. "And now, Jack, you saw me take you down before, and if you attempt any attack on my person, I'll be forced to retaliate. And if that happens, I won't just paralyse you. I'll snap your spine and throw you out the airlock."

He grinned widely, that sadistic kind of grin that he used to be famous for.

"Though I guess if you force me to kill you, there's no one to stop me from dissecting your body and studying you..."

It always did feel good to make hardened killers feel uncomfortable, show them they weren't the scariest thing around. It left a pleasant tingle in Harry's stomach.

Needless to say, Jack didn't attack him as he left her 'quarters.'

–

Shepard stepped into the cargo hold, to find Harry standing in front of the tank holding the krogan. Three circular devices had been placed on the glass, and he was busily reading holographic data floating over his PAD.

" _He's really big,"_ Adrian, standing in the air by Harry's head, said cautiously as he stared at the tank. _"I know I've said it before, but I'm just amazed... I wish I was that big..."_

"You're a bodiless AI, your form is simply that of a hologram," Harry said, glancing at him. "You can be whatever size you wish."

" _I know, but I'm referring to a physical body. I'd really like one, dad."_

"I know, I know, but a body can be destroyed, even if it would be difficult, and you're still very young," Harry chided. "I don't want to risk it right now."

" _Alright..."_

"You speak to him like he's your son," Shepard spoke, catching their attention. "And he calls you dad?"

"I created him, I gave him life, even if most organics wouldn't consider him living," Harry said, smiling at Shepard. "I'd say that warrants calling me his father. And I love him like a son."

Shepard was sort of moved by that statement. After all, Harry didn't look like the kind of person who'd care about anyone, let alone a synthetic lifeform. He looked very... human when he looked at Adrian like that, his facial features sort of softer and not at all as cold as he had looked when he attacked them in his base.

"We're on course for Horizon, the Illusive Man thinks it might be under attack," she revealed. "And Mordin has finished creating his countermeasure against the seeker swarms."

The seeker swarms of the Collectors really were dangerous. Small, bug-like things that paralyzed the victim if it was able to bite them. Shepard really didn't want to risk running afoul of any of those. It would make the mission very short.

"So I've heard," Harry said with a nod. "He does good work, that's for sure. It's refreshing to meet someone like him."

Shepard nodded, understanding that. Being one of high intelligence, it would probably be difficult for Harry to find equals.

"So tell me, what do you know about the Collectors? You said you had enough data on them?"

"Hm, bipedal, human-sized insect people. They come from beyond the Omega 4 Relay, and they usually keep to themselves, using agents to make trade deals for their technology. From what I've discovered, they are mostly interested in purchasing slaves, but I haven't figured out a reason for it. But if they're working for the Reapers, then we could guess why they'd want humans."

"And what do you know of the Reapers?"

"Question is, what do you know?" Harry countered, which made Shepard smirk slightly. It was nice to be the one questioned for once.

"I know they're synthetic lifeforms. Saren's flagship Sovereign was a Reaper. Their goal is to wipe out all organic life, and they're the ones who wiped out the Protheans."

"All of them?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow, which got him a curious look from Shepard.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at this," Harry said, raising his PAD and bringing up a holographic cell structure. It didn't make much sense to Shepard, but she figured he had a point to all this. "This is a normal human's biological makeup. This is what a Prothean's looks like." He pushed a button on the PAD, and the cell structure completely changed shape, not even remotely recognizeable compared to the human structure. "And now, this is data that I picked up from a Collector I managed to subdue and study."

He pushed another button, and Shepard's eyes widened in surprise.

"They look identical!"

"Yep. Way I figure it, those Protheans the Reapers didn't wipe out, they converted to what are now known as Collectors," Harry concluded. "I've been doing a bit of research on it, but I don't have enough data. That the biggest reason why I can with you on this mission, Commander. I need to know what the Reapers are. I mean, what they truly are, what their true purpose is, what their motivations are. It's maddening to not know..."

"For someone whose life is all about research, I guess I can understand that," Shepard said, nodding slowly. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Shepard."

"I never do."

Harry grinned.

"By the way, if we're going to go up against the Reapers, I would really like it if you in particular allowed me to inject you with the Z-94 nanobots," he said, his grin disappearing to be replaced by a frown. "From what I hear, their indoctrination is pretty powerful. By studying the altered neural patterns of the Collectors, I've concluded that they're indoctrinated too. The Z-94 would be able to counteract the effects of indoctrination."

"You're been really pushy on that subject."

"I don't like half-finished projects. Your current healing implants are unfinished prototypes, and I want them replaced," Harry explained. "So after this whole Horizon business, come see me in the lab so I can give you the injection. I'd also prefer to give you a shot of PPPF-02."

"Peepee-what?" Shepard repeated in confusion.

"Peak Physical Performance Formula dash oh-two," Harry clarified with an exasperated sigh. "The amount of time I've had to explain that one... In any case, it is an incredibly powerful formula, which pushed the human body to its absolute physical peak. The last person I injected it into was able to bench press twelve hundred pounds."

This made Shepard's eyes widen in amazement. To be honest, it sounded amazing, but really, she had only just met Harry, and she didn't really know if she trusted him enough for that.

"You can seriously do that? No ulterior motive?"

"I've done all the research I need on the PPPF. I wouldn't do anything evil to you just for the hell of it, you know."

And it was true that Shepard could use it. Run faster, fight harder, heal better? It sounded like a good deal. Hell, almost too good to be true.

"How long does it take to take effect?"

"The Z-94's achieve full functionality the second they enter the bloodstream. The PPPF is gradual, however. You might notice some differences right away, along with a mild discomfort over a twenty-four hour period as your muscle density changes. But after twenty-four hours, you'll be the most physically advanced human in the galaxy, except for me, of course."

At that moment, Shepard made a choice that would change her forever.

"Alright, there's three hours until we reach Horizon. Let's do it."

"Great!" Harry exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "It's been so long since I was able to use this serum on someone I could trust. Let us head to the lab."

–

 _Personal Log._

 _It has been a long time since I had a reason to leave my home. I have never really met anything or anyone of interest for quite some time, but this... Oho, Collectors, Reapers, and Commander Shepard herself. I was aware that Project Lazarus would work, but wow! It worked even with the outdated implants! That was beyond expectation, as I was certain of degradation. Ah well, I guess it's better that it worked._

 _And now, Shepard has even agreed to the PPPF. She's an incredibly strong woman. Even only two minutes after injection, she had already shown a five percent strength increase. That's unprecedented. Perhaps the serum is cooperating with the Z-94 nanobots? It's worth looking into. I hadn't taken that into consideration._

 _We are approaching Horizon. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch one of the Collectors and study it. They truly are fascinating creatures with an amazing power. While I have all the biological data that I need on them, I would still prefer to be able to study the indoctrination a bit deeper, to figure out if my nanobots are up to snuff at resisting it._

 _Now, on another subject, I must remember to get Mr. Moreau, the ship's pilot, an injection of Berserker nanomachines. They should allow him to perform heavier duties without suffering damage to his brittle bones. I don't yet trust him enough to give him the PPPF, but I think he might benefit from it._

 _Note to self: Must develop serum adapted to the dextro-amino acids of creatures such as quarians and turians. Current serum would cause complete muscle degradation and possibly cause hemorraging in the brain._

 _Also pleased to note that Adrian is currently developing at a rate similar to a human. He truly is one of my greatest creations. Children truly are wonderful, are they not?_

 _Speaking of which, I met Jack recently. She's a rough, crude person which no restraints on her speech whatsoever. On a military ship, that sure is a breath of fresh air. She reminds me so much of her..._

–

The team consisting of Shepard, Harry, and Jack hopped out of the shuttle on Horizon. The dark sky and the skyscraper-like Collector ship were foreboding. And even without looking around, the place felt incredibly empty.

"That's one ugly ship," Jack commented, staring at the stone-covered ship. It was a very strange design, but when he looked at it with his eye device, Harry could see its structure clearly.

"Ugly, but functional. No wasted space, eighty percent of it converted for transporting cargo," he said, a small smirk on his face. "Small yet incredibly efficient drive core. You could only dream of a human developing something like that."

"Whatever, it's still an ugly ship," Jack shrugged, which made Harry chuckle.

"We're groundside," Shepard spoke into her communicator, ignoring the banter between the two. "Mordin, are you sure these armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?"

"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms," Mordin replied, then paused for a second before adding, "In theory."

"What a ringing fucking endorsement," Jack barked in annoyance. "Not looking to get my ass bitten by one of those things."

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive!"

"Field testing," Harry quipped, nodding in approval. "I like it, sounds good."

The team made their way toward the colony, but stopped on their way, because they saw something by a nearby tree. Sitting leaned against it was a human female, her face frozen in an expression of shock. Harry hurried forward and knelt beside her, looking her over.

"Frozen by the seekers?" Shepard asked as Harry's brow furrowed.

"No. She's had an operation in the past. The strain from the paralysis caused an aneurysm. She's dead," Harry informed them, reaching into the pockets of his coat. "Well, even the dead can be useful at times."

"What are you doing?" Jack asked as Harry fished out two circular devices that looked much like screwheads and attached them to the woman's temples. A light on each device turned on, and the team was greeted with the sickening sound of what appeared to be two screws drilling through flesh and bone into the woman's brain.

"Oh, man, that's gross!" Jack muttered, making a disgusted face at the sound.

"Sorry for bothering you, but it's necessary," Harry said, not sounding sorry at all as a holographic screen appeared over his PAD, showing him a large amount of digits and letters.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked, looking a bit disturbed as well. "You shouldn't really disrespect the dead."

"Not like she's alive to take exception," Harry countered. "Besides, like I said, it's necessary. I'm retrieving the electrical impulses from her most recent memories and converting them to images. Provided the brain hasn't suffered too much degradation, of course. Shouldn't be a problem."

The text vanished to be replaced by what looked like a vid screen. Both Jack and Shepard leaned closer to look at what was happening in the vid.

It was showing Horizon from the perspective of the woman. From the looks of things, she was sitting by the tree the way the team had found her, and her eyes were fixed on three bipedal creatures standing in front of her.

Insect-like with a chitinous exoskeleton, two anterior pairs of what appeared to be vestigial limbs, four eyes, and a distinct, large, tapering head along with fully developed insect-like wings, there was no doubt that these creatures were Collectors.

One of the Collectors approached the woman and knelt in front of her, looking her over. It was different from the rest in that its eyes were glowing yellow, and it seemed to radiate some kind of dark energy.

" **We have no use for this one,"** the creature spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. **"Move on."**

With that, the three creatures walked off, and the vid steadily faded to black.

"That's the last of it," Harry announced, closing down the hologram and frowning. "The one that spoke... Something was very different about it."

He didn't have time to elaborate, because to the east the buzzing sound of flapping insect wings was heard, and they turned to see about ten Collectors come flying in the air toward them.

"We'll so much for quiet infiltration," Harry muttered, before they all rushed up to nearby cover to hide behind it. "Mordin, you think the seekers can transmit what they see?"

" _Hm, hadn't taken into consideration. Will run tests. Try not to die."_

"Right."

"Well, I don't mind the company!" Jack said with a grin. "I've been dying for some target practice!"

She popped out from behind the cover, her body wrapped in a biotic shield, then puled her hand back and threw it forward. A piece of the transparent, blue barrier covering her hand was torn off and flung at one of the Collectors like a ball. When in impacted, the Collector's barrier was completely destroyed, but looked otherwise unharmed. That changed when a second ball slammed into it's skull, blowing its head clean off.

"Yeah!" Jack yelled exhuberantly, before having to duck under Collector fire. "First blood's mine!"

Harry watched Jack rather fondly as he reached into his coat, fishing out what looked to the untrained eye like a black leather glove with black plastic armor on it. To the trained eye, however, the sheer scope of the technology in this glove would have had them salivating.

"Right, I suppose it's time to earn my pay," he muttered, reaching behind his back and pulling out a gun, which made Shepard pause just to inspect it in surprise.

It looked an awful lot like an M-6 Carnifex, but it had been heavily modified. The barrel appeared to have been replaced by a baby blue crystal, as had part of the gun above the grip, where the heat sink ejector would have been. Had he modified it himself? And if so, what was the crystal for? And the glove, for that matter, since he wasn't holding the gun with the same hand.

Harry answered her questions without needing to be asked by rising from behind cover and making a circular motion with his hand, before flicking it upward. Two of the Collectors gave shouts of surprise as they suddenly started floating up into the air, flailing their lims as though trying to flap their way back down. As though hearing their desire to go back to the ground, Harry flicked his hand down, and the two were flung into the ground with enough force to explode their bodies, sending Collector innards flying. Then he raised his gun and fired off a single shot.

It looked almost like he'd used biotics. The energy that fired from the weapon was a pale blue ball around the size of an orange, shooting through the air at incredible speed. When it hit the Collector Harry was aiming for, it punched straight through both its barrier and its chest, digging out a gaping hole that went straight through and out the back.

"Tell you later," Harry said as he ducked behind the cover, noticing the strange look he got from Shepard. She'd clearly been wanting to ask what the hell Harry's equipment was.

Shepard rose from cover and opened fire at the Collectors with her assault rifle. She didn't want to be as left out of the fight as she'd been on Korlus, after all.

The firefight was short-lived, and there was only one Collector left. Still annoyed with how easily Harry dispatched them, Shepard really wanted to get the last kill, so she got very frustrated when her weapon clicked empty, and she had only gotten through the Collector's barrier.

"I-"

"I've got him!" Shepard barked, interrupting Harry, who had taken aim. She vaulted over her cover and ran forward at a very impressive speed, much faster than what she could have achieved a day ago.

The Collector, who had taken cover and was trying to recharge its shield, poked its head out from behind the cover just in time to see Shepard jump and dropkick it in the face.

The kick was strong enough to knock the Collector of its feet, sending it flying back into a large stone. It smashed into it with a crunch, then crumbled to the floor, showing several cracks in the stone. It should also be noted that upon closer inspection, Harry could actually see two boot imprints in its forehead.

Next to him, Jack was gaping.

"Holy shit, Shepard!"

"Wow!" Shepard exclaimed, surprised at herself as she rose to her feet, looking over the Collector. "That felt amazing!"

"Never fails," Harry stated proudly, approaching her. "But your musculature is adapting to the serum surprisingly quickly."

"Guess I'm just special then, huh?" Shepard asked as she popped the heat sink on her rifle. "Let's get going."

"Special indeed," Harry agreed, following her.

They paused at the edge of the colony, however, when something came at them from around the corner. It looked human, but with dead, gray skin. Parts of its body seemed to have been converted somehow into cybernetic material, and its eyes were glowing blue. The creature gave a roar as it charged at them.

Shepard opened fire, but her eyes widened when the creature barely even reacted to it, not going down until a blast from Harry's pistol blew a hole in its stomach.

"That's supposed to be one of the colonists?" Jack asked, looking disgusted as she stared at the creature.

"No. On Eden Prime, victims were impaled on giant spikes to turn them into husks," Shepard said. "I haven't seen any on Horizon."

"So this is a husk, eh?" Harry asked, fishing out more circular devices from his pockets, placing one on each temple, and on it its chest. At another button push, they once more heard the sound of spikes drilling through flesh and bone.

"What are you doing now?" Shepard asked, noticing the third device.

"I'm collecting data. I can't very well bring it with me now, and I might not remember it before we leave, so I'll gather as much data as I can now, just to be safe. But if they used to be converted on the spot, why are the colonists being taken alive?"

"I was wondering that too," Shepard muttered, staring down at the husk. "All I know right now is that these aren't the same creatures I fought on Eden Prime. They're more advanced. Evolved."

"No matter, it would appear they die just like anything else," Harry said, before a beep sounded from his PAD, at which point he reached down and removed the devices. Since he hadn't done that with the woman, Shepard and Jack were now greeted to the sight of just what had made that sound earlier. Three-inch spikes had extended from the devices and drilled their way into the bodies.

Shepard looked down at the husk, frowning. She didn't feel as bad about Harry disrespecting its corpse like that, but it _had_ once still been human, and seeing it just illicited anger toward the Reapers.

"The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims," she announced, looking up at her team. "Let's move out."

As the trio moved out, Shepard found herself glancing at Harry's hands.

"So, what are those things?"

"Oh, these?" Harry asked, holding up his gloved hand and his gun. "Just some toys. This is the Grav-Glove," he said, making a gesture with his glove. "I can generate a gravitational field around the area of my choice. I'm limited to small areas, however, but inside that field, I manipulate gravity how I choose. I negated gravity to float the Collectors, then made it many times stronger to slam them down. As for the gun..."

Harry held up the gun and looked it over himself, smiling softly.

"I used to be a revolver type, but it didn't seem to fit this century's style. So I bought a Carnifex and modified with with a crystal-based power source. This baby can both stun and kill."

"Crystal-based?"

"I'll tell you what, when we get back to the ship, I can give you a more in-depth explanation with lots of technical information you probably won't understand, but let's focus on the mission for now," Harry said with a smile, which made Shepard flush slightly.

She was usually the one who said that...

They went through the passage and into the colony, and immediately found themselves set upon by even more Collectors, engaging in another firefight.

Shepard had to admit that Harry was rather impressive in a fight. He had reflexes like she'd never seen before, dodging shots mere nanoseconds before they hit him. Most of the fight was spent out of cover, merely dodging side to side to avoid the gunfire.

In the meantime, Shepard herself was feeling amazing. Usually, fights like this would pump a bit of adrenaline into her body and make her a little shaky. But now, she was feeling completely calm. The adrenaline was there, but she didn't feel the surge of controlled near-panic that always drove her to success. She was feeling pretty confident. Also, there was probably some technical term for it, but she got this strange feeling like she could see and react faster than normal. The shots fired at her seemed to be moving slower than she was used to.

"Whatever was in that super juice, I like it," she muttered to herself, popping out of cover to open fire on a Collector, which had just been floated into the air by Harry's Grav-Glove.

"Shepard," Harry said as he dodged over to her cover, ducking down with her. "I'm detecting several human life forms in the colony. There's very few of them, but it seems we interrupted the Collectors in the middle of their harvest."

"Then let's make sure they don't finish it," Shepard said, to which Harry nodded. Then he grinned at her.

"Have to admit, Shepard, it's good to be out and about again. I sort of missed this."

"If you ladies are done chatting, I could use some fucking help here!" Jack yelled, which brought them back to the situation at hand.

Harry and Shepard both popped out of cover, opening fire on the remaining Collectors, taking them out quickly. Shepard had to admit that she really wanted a weapon like Harry's...

Once the final Collector had dropped, they moved again, deeper into the colony. Now they found more humans, all of them frozen in place with looks of shock or fear on their faces, some having fallen, and some stuck in the middle of running.

"Stuck in statis," Harry concluded as he knelt in front of a woman, who was frozen in the middle of being helped up by a man. "They still retain awareness, though. Must be terrifying." He hummed curiously as he looked her over with his eye device. "It doesn't seem like it will fade. We will need to develop a vaccine to counter the paralysis. I don't have the tools to do that on me, though."

"They've been like this for a long time," Shepard said, narrowing her eyes at the fearful look on the woman's face. "But no longer. Let's kick the Collectors off this planet."

They headed away from the building they were at, and Shepard noticed something on the ground, picking it up. It was a large rifle, it's plating looking almost like some kind of stone. Clearly Collector tech.

"Well now, what have we here?"

Harry leaned forward, humming and inspecting it.

"Looks like a miniature version of the Collectors' ship-mounted particle beam cannon. Can't tell for sure, but it looks sort of like the same design. Guess we won't know till you use it."

"Whatever it is, it's a big gun and I like it," Shepard said, spoken like a true soldier, which made Harry chuckle.

Then Harry's ear twitched suddenly, hearing something in the distance.

"We have more Collectors incoming," he said, making a gesture toward the north.

The team rushed off and found cover just in time to see a swarm of Collectors come flying toward their location.

When they landed, however, one of the Collectors started flailing wildly as though in pain. They watched as its skin started tearing, a red glow coming from the cracks. It started radiating dark energy, and its eyes started to glow yellow, just like the Collector they had seen in the memory.

" **Direct intervention is necessary,"** the Collector spoke in a deep voice, again just like in the memory.

It fired off a blast of energy like a rocket, taking Harry by surprise and hitting him in the chest. It exploded and sent him flying several feet, before thudding hard into the ground.

"Harry!" Shepard yelled in shock, only to breathe a sigh of relief when the prone Harry raised a hand.

"I'm alright!" he yelled back, shooting to his feet and bringing up his pistol and aiming it at the Collector who had blasted him. Amazingly, the only sign of damage on him was some small scratches under his chin. His clothes looked fine, though his lab coat looked a bit singed.

Harry fired three shots, all of them at that single Collector, blowing three fist-sized holes in its chest. The Collector gave off a pained cry, but instead of collapsing like the rest, it floated about a foot into the air, before disintegrating before their very eyes.

"Well, that's new," Harry commented in surprise, before having to duck under gunfire from the Collectors. As he rushed forward toward cover, he swiped his hand at three of them, and to Jack and Shepard's surprise, it looked like an arc of distorted air rushed toward the Collectors, passing straight through them. Next second, they dropped to the ground, their upper halves separating from their lower ones.

"You never told me you were a biotic!" Shepard yelled to Harry, poking her head out of cover and firing at the Collectors.

"Not technically a biotic!" Harry yelled back, firing blindly over the cover with his pistol. "Just some basic manipulation of my body's natural biological energy field! Call it magic, if you want!"

They heard a rumbling growl from past their cover, and the three poked their heads out to see yet another Collector now sporting cracks in its skin and glowing eyes.

" **Evolution cannot be stopped,"** the Collector said, which made Harry frown as he killed a nearby Collector before ducking down again.

"Huh, possession, huh? They must all be connected like a hive-mind, then..." A bright smile suddenly appeared on his face as he snapped his fingers in realization. " _That's_ why their brains have been genetically rewired! They needed room for another consciousness! Oh, wow, this trip _has_ been informative!"

"Harry!" Shepard barked, bringing Harry back to reality. "If you wouldn't mind helping out against this guy, we'd appreciate it!"

"Oh, right," Harry mumbled, poking his head up and firing at the dominant Collector, who dodged out of the way, right into the path of Shepard's new rifle. She pulled the trigger, and a thin, bright yellow beam of energy was fired from the rifle, cutting into the Collector's skull like a laser. Shepard watched in amazement as it sliced through the Collector, who started disintegrating with a yell of pain.

"Hah! Particle beam!" Harry barked triumphantly, taking out the two remaining Collectors with two well-placed shots. "I knew it!"

"That's the last of 'em, for now," Jack announced, popping the thermal clip out of her pistol. "This is getting way to repetitive..."

"Agreed," Harry said and looked around with his eye device. He turned toward one of the larger buildings to the east, focusing on it. "I see one human life form inside that building, Shepard. It's moving."

"Let's check it out, then."

Meanwhile, back on the ship, it almost felt like the Normandy actually rocked when the wall of the research lab was one more the victim of a vicious kick from one very irritated-looking mech.

"Please, Frank, control your anger, delicate research," Mordin pleaded. He had jumped at the first five kicks, but he was used to it now.

" _I do not get angry, salarian fleshsack,"_ Frank argued, turning his glowing eyes toward Mordin, who _now_ started to feel uncomfortable. _"I am merely restless. I was certain that the master would bring me along to Horizon. There are many organics there to kill. Yet he did not. He did not wish to risk having this unit destroy valuable research material."_

"Sounds like anger, maybe irritation, perhaps sadness," Mordin mused. "Organic traits, hard to explain away as anything else."

" _You are lucky, meatbag, that my prime directives prevent me from harming you,"_ Frank hissed, aiming another kick at the wall. _"It feels like my joints will rust from just standing here. I shall go communicate with the EDI AI."_

"Please do. Need to work. Much research to be done."

Frank turned and walked out of the lab, at which point Mordin released a sigh of relief.

"Problematic..."

" _Mordin,"_ came Harry's voice over the communicator.

"Dr. Potter," Mordin greeted. "Did not expect contact so early."

" _Just calling to pass the time while Shepard talks to a survivor we met. He's kinda annoying, so I don't wanna listen to him. Anyway, I discovered a husk body. I'm sending the data I collected to the lab, so you can get a headstart on the research while you wait."_

"Excellent!" Mordin said happily, moving over to the main computer and bringing up the holographic display, studying the incoming information. "Mm, interesting. Much organic and synthetic data. Could be useful."

" _I'm also sending data on the paralysis caused by the seekers. It might help you develop a vaccine for it."_

"Understood. Already working on it. Should be done soon. Data could speed things up. Thank you."

Down on the planet, Harry nodded to himself.

"Hope you'll find a cure soon. Harry out."

He looked back toward Shepard, Jack, and the mechanic they had met, Delan.

"Good luck," Delan said to Shepard, entering some commands into his omni-tool. "I think you're gonna need it."

"So what's going on?" Harry asked as his two team members approached him.

"We're heading for the defense towers. They're high-powered GARDIAN lasers, so they should be able to at least scratch the Collector ship," Shepard explained, to which Harry furrowed his brow.

"Why haven't they been used yet, then?"

"The targeting system doesn't work. I was hoping you could help with that."

"Sure thing."

–

"This is too easy..." Shepard muttered as the team reached the square with the control computer where the targeting systems would need to be calibrated. "Only one Collector encounter on our way?"

"Way to jinx, Shepard..." Jack muttered.

As if on cue, they found several husks come running at them from the other side of the square, along with husks that were very deformed. Judging by the three different ribcages, they were three husks fused together, though they walked on two legs. The husks seemed to have been fused around a large, blue ball of energy, which was pulsing and making them an easy target.

"See?!" Jack barked, taking down a husk's armor with gunshots, before grabbing it in a biotic hold and slamming it into the ground hard enough to smash it to pieces.

"Just fight!" Shepard barked, readying her weapon and opening fire, Harry doing the same.

The husks were easier to fight than Collectors. The husks had no sense of duck and cover. They just charged at you without a care, making themselves very easy targets. It didn't take long to bring them down.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here," Harry said, approaching the computer and booting it up. One quick hack later, and he had complete access. "Hm... I could get the towers online from here, but doing so would bring us a lot of attention... Hm-hm-hm..." Furrowing his brow, he reached for the communicator in his ear.

"Normandy, come in."

" _Joker here. Signal's weak, Doctor, but we got you."_

"EDI, I need you to bring the defense towers online. I'm patching you into the computer," Harry said, and the AI was quick to respond as soon as she had been patched in.

" _Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take time to bring the towers to full power."_

"Exactly. Can't exactly hide the generator output, so odds are we'll have company," Harry said with a nod. "That's why I need you to do it for me. Frank?"

" _I'm here, master."_

"Transfer to the PAD. You can make a new body here. Won't have any projectiles weapons, but I figured you were up for a close-quarter fight."

" _Yes, master! Anything to get away from the tedious monotony of ship life. Uploading now."_

Harry heard a beep from his PAD. Nodding in satisfaction, he pulled out another metal block from it and walked up to a steel crate, placing the block on it.

Shepard and Jack got to see the show Mordin had witnesses, watching at nanobots in the block broke down the crate and converted it into building material to build a shiny, silvery Frank, whose eyes lit up as soon as he was activated.

" _Unit Frank, ready to serve, master! Enemy reinforcements are closing in. Activating combat protocol! Prejudice set to maximum!"_

"Ready up, people!" Shepard ordered, popping the heat sink on her rifle and readying it upon seeing a large group of Collectors flying toward them in the distance.

"Too easy, huh?" Jack muttered to Shepard, who did her very best to ignore her.

" **Assuming direct control,"** they heard from one of the Collectors, which made Harry frown.

"Him again," the scientist muttered, raising his pistol and firing, shooting the creature out of the air and causing it to disintegrate.

A firefight ensued, a tedious process in Harry's opinion, and very repetitive. He didn't learn anything new from the Collectors right now, as they all used the same basic attack pattern. It was clear that they weren't all that used to encountering resistance.

" _Bypassing failsafes and attempting emergency power-up,"_ EDI told them, over the communicator. _"Please hold the defensive tower."_

"Yeah, no shit..." Jack quipped sending a Collector flying with a biotic blast. "I thought I'd just wander off for a while and catch some sun..."

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you," Harry commented as he blew two Collector heads off. "It would've sounded better if you just flung an insult at her."

"What are you, my dad?" Jack snapped back at him, blasting the next Collector extra hard for good measure.

Once the last Collector had fallen, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fun as it is to be out in the world again, fighting through wave after wave of the same enemy isn't what I consider a fun time..." he muttered. "And you know there's gonna be more enemies."

" _Sequential power-up initiated. GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at forty percent,"_ EDI announced, which made Harry sigh again, while Frank's eyes just glowed with excitement.

" _Good, I need to shake the rust out of my joints!"_ the psychotic AI exclaimed, punching his fists together much like a krogan. There was surprisingly little blood on them, but then, he had so far only punched the Collectors to death, not torn out their insides... yet...

As if on cue, another wave of Collectors arrived, and Frank didn't even wait for them to land. He leapt off a crate and slammed into a Collector in mid-air, bringing it down to the ground, grabbing its wings and tearing them off its body.

Harry just watched in fascination as Frank grabbed the Collector's head and tore it from its owner's body, then threw it at another Collector with enough force to break their neck.

"Oh, he's good," Jack commented from next to him, before opening fire alongside Harry. "I could raise quite a bit of hell with him at my side!"

"He only listens to me, though," Harry quipped, carelessly flinging shots at the Collectors in boredom. Even though it looked like he wasn't aiming at all, every single shot hit its mark.

"Oh, never mind, then."

Harry pouted at that. But in all seriousness, he was getting annoyed with this. He had to wonder what kind of generators these cannons were running on. Given that they were all the way out in the Terminus System, he doubted that the Alliance went out of the way to pay for anything too expensive.

"Bugger this!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Frank, you need to reupload to the PAD! This is taking too long!"

Frank looked up from where he stood holding a Collector by the throat, his other arm buried in its chest.

" _But, master...!"_

"No buts, come on! I need your power source!"

A tired sigh was heard from Frank as he dropped the Collector and started making his way over to the computer.

" _To have a body to be used however the master wishes... How far I have fallen..."_

He reached the computer at the same time as Harry and held out his hand. Harry grabbed it, and watched as the nanobots deconstructed Frank's body, which turned into a fine metal dust that scattered in the wind.

All that remained was a single keron block in Harry's hand.

"Here we go," Harry said, attaching the block to the computer, then opening his PAD. "EDI, set the cannons to draw power from the new source I just hooked up."

" _Doctor, there is no certainty that-"_

"Check it!"

EDI was quiet for a moment, then said, _"This is a great power source indeed, Doctor. Connecting it to GARDIAN anti-ship batteries. Power at one hundred percent. I have control."_

As the fighting continued on the ground, the massive cannons on either side of the square suddenly came to life and aimed at the Collector ship, firing large blasts of yellowish energy at it. GARDIAN lasers truly were one of humanity's greatest advancements in energy weapons in this universe.

" _Firing anti-ship batteries at Collector vessel."_

As soon as the last Collector of this wave fell, a new enemy arrived at the scene. This one was very large, and looked like a massive Collector head with four legs and glowing, blue eyes. When its mouth opened, one could see what looked like husk heads inside it.

"Now, isn't that interesting?" Harry commented, watching as its eyes glowed brighter. Suddenly, it fired a beam of blue energy at Shepard, who used her enhanced reflexes to dodge out of the way. The creature spun around and directed the beam at Harry, who had to duck behind cover.

"Good thing you're here, Frank," Harry said, bringing up his PAD. "I need a good target for the glove. Can you pinpoint a good spot?"

A holographic projection of Frank's standard body appeared next to a holographic model of the creature they were facing. _"I took the liberty of scanning it while it directed its attention to the meatbag Commander. I believe this would be a suitable spot to open a field,"_ he said, and a red dot appeared inside the maw of the creature. Harry nodded.

"Set the target, then."

" _Yes, master."_

A sort of vibrating sound was heard to Harry's left, and he looked to the side to see that the creature had floated up to and around his cover, and was now looking at him.

"Afternoon," Harry greeted amicably.

"Harry!" Shepard yelled, seeing the creature's eyes start to glow again.

Harry showed no fear, however. Instead, he just raised his left hand and closed it into a fist. The creature froze in mid-air, and suddenly appeared to be getting sucked into its own mouth. It was like watching a can being crushed, as its armored head and legs twitched with every dent that appeared on it. It imploded on itself, crushing it into a small ball of metal and some disturbing green liquid.

Harry hummed to himself as he got to his feet, brushing off his lab coat.

"A shame I still haven't figured out how to create a gravitational field inside matter. That would have been amusing to watch."

As he holstered his weapon, he saw Shepard and Jack approaching him, staring at the floating ball in the air. He deactivated the field, and the ball dropped to the ground with a thud.

"What did you just do?" Shepard asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"I created an encompassing gravitational field in mid-air just inside its mouth," Harry explained. "Imagine a planet the size of a golf ball with a gravitational pull ten times that of earth with limited range."

"Hm, you should do that all the time," Jack commented, which made Harry smile.

"I wish. It's sort of draining, and I can't fit too much power into the glove without making it bulky."

" _Shepard,"_ came EDI's voice. _"I am maintaining fire on the Collector vessel, but it appears to be powering up."_

True enough, the skyscraper-like vessel suddenly came to life, the semi-rings around it starting to spin as its massive thruster ignited, launching the ship into the air.

"No reason to stay, I guess," Harry said, watching as the ship got smaller and smaller in the distance. "They got what they wanted."

"I guess so..." Shepard muttered, frowning. "Damn it..."

Harry reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"We'll get 'em next time."

–

 **Alright, chapter end! I'm not too sure about this chapter. Wasn't really sure how to put words to the mission, but I did my best, and I guess that's all I can do. Let me know your opinions, and I'll try to better myself! In the next chapter, we'll actually see a bit of emotion from Harry!**

 **Peace out, guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! ZnK here! Toady... is my birthday! Hurray for me! Now, I know it's tradition to receive gifts on your birthday, but I decided I'd give one instead, so here's chapter four! If you want to give me a gift in return, then please leave a review and tell me how much you love me and adore me, and that you hate me getting older as much as I do. Use your sheer force of will to make me younger! I don't have an anti-aging serum like Harry!**

 **Anyway, in this chapter you'll find out what's up with Tonks!**

 **And now, enjoy!**

–

Shepard stepped off the hologram projector after a talk with the Illusive Man. The more she talked to him, the more she distrusted him. That said a lot, considering that she barely trusted him to begin with. No matter what he said, it felt like the man was telling her only a tiny part of the truth...

She sighed heavily, then looked up to see Harry leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed.

"Still no fun to talk to?" he asked with a small smile. "I guess he's all business and half-truths still?"

"Pretty much. I don't really believe anything he says anymore," Shepard said with a sigh. "I still don't know if it's the best idea to be working with Cerberus, even if they're the only ones willing to do anything."

"True enough," Harry said, nodding. "Cerberus may claim to be a pro-human organization working for the betterment of mankind, and most of their members may wholeheartedly believe it, but they're all being manipulated by the brat. He claims to have humanity's interests in mind, and he believes it too, but he's always been selfish. Power corrupts, you know. At least he _used_ to do some good with it. Now he's got everyone distrusting Cerberus because of it."

"How do you know all that about him?" Shepard asked, which made Harry smile again as he fished out a cigarette and lit it.

"He was twelve when we first met. He was intelligent and eager to learn. When he managed to read a thesis I had written, he caught my interest, so I took him in as my assistant and provided him with enough funding to get a proper education. He was just a stuttering mess back then. I guess he was sort of like a son sometimes."

"You don't have family of your own?"

Harry chuckled as he leaned his head back, closing his eyes with a nostalgic look on his face.

"I've had four wives, five sons, three daughters, eighteen grandchildren, thirty-nine great-grandchildren, and I've lost count of how many great-great-grandchildren. Haven't had any living family around for a while, though."

"But you developed an anti-aging serum," Shepard said in confusion. "Did they die of disease?"

"No, my kids wanted to be unmodified, and their kids in turn, and so on. Three of my wives reached... eh... a different state of mind... and my first wife..." Harry smiled softly, his gaze turning warm and friendly, something Shepard definitely hadn't seen before. "Nymphadora Tonks, who preferred to be called by her surname by everyone but me... Nym was quite the girl. She took the anti-aging serum, but longevity isn't for everyone. Once she'd seen our great-grandchildren grow up, she... Well, she lost interest. She wanted to die human, of old age in her sleep. I tried to talk her out of it, but when that woman had her heart set on something..."

"Were you tempted to join her?"

"At the time, there was nothing I wanted more than to join her in death, but at the same time, I just couldn't see myself, you know, not living. Not when there was so much left to see, to discover. Though as I'd watched my kids and my descendants grow old with Nym, I... just wanted something connecting me to her even after she was dead. I copied her brain patterns, her personality, the lovable traits, and downloaded it. I was thinking of making an AI of her and give it a body, but that would be an insult. Eventually, I decided to copy some of my own brain patterns and merge them. I made a young AI, a fully sentient learning computer with unlimited potential."

Harry took a drag on his cigarette and gave another chuckle.

"I had a clone back in the day, too. I really cared for him, but he's gone now, too. He wanted to be unmodified beyond the strengthening serums I injected him with. So, with this new AI, an everlasting son, I decided to name him after my clone," he explained, looking up at Shepard and smiling softly. "The end result was Adrian."

Shepard frowned slightly, something she noticed that she tended to do a lot around Harry.

"You've experienced a lot of loss in your life."

"Everything that has a beginning has an end," Harry said with a shrug. "It's a fact I've accepted when it comes to humans. It's inevitable. The only thing you can do is prolong it. Hell, even I could die. It would be difficult, but it's a fact."

"Anyone every tell you that you have a bleak outlook on life?"

"All the time."

Shepard had to laugh at that. At least he was honest, something she wouldn't have expected from the man who trained the Illusive Man.

"So, what's next on the agenda, Commander?" Harry asked, changing the subject. "If you have nothing planned, I would like to return to my base and install some upgrades on the Normandy. You'll need it if you want to take on the Collectors."

"Let me look through the dossiers the Illusive Man sent me, and I'll let you know, alright?"

"Take your time, Shepard," Harry said, stepping to the side to let Shepard through, giving her a mock salute. "I'll upload the coordinates to the starmap. Just set a course whenever you're ready."

"Will do."

It only took about an hour before Shepard stepped into the research lab. Harry was alone in there now, as Mordin had gone to do a check-up on Joker at his request.

"I've set a course for your base," she told him. "I was a bit surprised to see that you'd set up shop in an asteroid belt near Omega. Can that beaming of yours really reach that far?"

"If you have the exact coordinates, yes," Harry said with a nod. "You need to know what you're locking onto, but if you do, then you can beam from orbit or, with enough power, from planet to planet. I was actually thinking about installing beaming technology on the ship, if we have time."

"Why haven't you shared any of this with humanity? I understand that power corrupts, but..."

"Exactly. What do you think would happen if, say, the Illusive Man got his hands on that technology?" Harry said, frowning. "I've seen too many wars and arguments over technology, one race flaunting it over another, another killing for it... There have only been very few I've trusted with my technology, and none are alive today, except for you."

"Why would you trust me with it?" Shepard asked, feeling rather flattered despite herself.

"You've worked with the Alliance, you've worked with aliens, and hell, now you're even working with Cerberus, and yet none of them have managed to completely turn you to their way of thinking."

"But I'm Alliance. I'm loyal to-"

"True, but I mean your personality. You are your own person, not influenced by who you work with. All you care about is the good of everyone, not just one group. That's admirable," Harry said, nodding in approval. "And that's why I think that the Normandy deserves to be upgraded. At least under your command. Maybe Anderson, too. I hear he's a member of the Council now?"

"Yeah, though I think he'd prefer to still serve in the Alliance," Shepard said with a laugh. "I don't think he's enjoying being a diplomat."

"Few good men do," Harry said, then gestured for the datapad Shepard was holding in her hand. "What's that?"

"These are the dossiers the..." Shepard paused and gave him a smirk, "... _brat_ gave me. They're our three next crewmembers."

Harry took the datapad and looked through it.

"Thane Krios, Justicar Samara, and Tali'Zorah vas Neema, wow, a quarian, huh...?"

"That sounded bitter," Shepard said, taking the datapad back. "Have something against quarians?"

"Not the people, really, more their attitude, especially toward synthetics," Harry clarified, frowning. "Do you know how the quarians were driven off their homeworld? Few people do."

"Tali told me they tried to destroy the geth, but that they had grown too strong."

"There's more to it than that, Shepard," Harry muttered. "Under the effects of a potent truth serum I'd been working on, a quarian elder revealed everything there was to know about the geth. I always like to have some background information before I start a study. The quarians tried to destroy the geth because they were becoming self-aware. They were learning, becoming a people. If it had continued, the geth would have been seen as slaves rather than a mechanical work force."

Harry got an angry look on his face, another thing that Shepard had never really seen on him.

"The geth were peaceful. They didn't mind the work. They just wanted to know what they were, their purpose... And the quarians tried to destroy them. If I wanted, I could have fixed their immune system in a week, but what they did to the geth..." Harry shook his head. "As long as they war against the geth, I have no desire to help them."

Tali was Shepard's friend, and she knew how much the girl hated the fact that her poor immune system didn't even let her take off her suit, but still, she could see Harry's point.

"I can understand how a creator of synthetics could see it that way."

"Yes, and now for something completely different," Harry said, pointing to the floor. "My scans have shown no abnormalities in the krogan in the cargo hold. Usually, I'd just open the tank without a care, but I respect you, so I'd like your go-ahead."

"Is it safe?"

"It's a krogan, Shepard," Harry said with a laugh. "Define 'safe.'"

"Point taken. If you think you can release him without having him tearing up the cargo hold, be my guest. But I want to be there. He needs to know who's in charge."

"Right."

The two left the lab and headed to the elevator, taking it down to the cargo hold and making their way toward the tank.

" _The subject is stable, Shepard,"_ EDI spoke as Shepard approached the tank. _"The good doctor ensured that the integration with onboard systems was seamless."_

"Can he see anything in there? Does he know where he is?" Shepard asked Harry, who shook his head.

"No, according to his neural patterns, he's experiencing only minimal cognition," he said, only to get a confused look from Shepard, at which point he clarified, "He's dreaming, that's all."

"Alright, we'll open the tank and let him out," Shepard said, getting a nod of approval from Harry.

" _Cerberus protocol is very clear regarding untested alien technology."_

"He's either a powerful addition to the crew, or a time bomb. I'd rather deal with it now, if you don't mind," Shepard told EDI, who was silent for only a second.

" _Very well, Shepard. The controls are online. The switch – and consequences – are yours."_

"Speaking of which, I'm holding you financially responsible for anything he breaks," Shepard told Harry, who blinked in surprise. After all, no one had dared say anything like that to him for a very long time. He decided he really liked this woman. She nodded, and he approached the tank, activating the holographic control panel and pushing a few buttons.

The tank hissed and bubbled as the liquid was drained from it. When it was completely empty, it opened down the middle, and the krogan fell out, landing fully awake on his hands and knees, coughing up a mouthful of the liquid he had been standing in for who knew how long.

A wide-set, seven feet tall mass of muscle, the krogan wore a silvery armor, had what looked a lot like rock growths on his head rather than the standard headplate common to crogan, and smooth, snake-like skin, indicating that he was still a youth. His eyes were a startlingly clear shade of blue.

He rose to his feet and stared at Shepard for only a moment before charging at the woman. Surprisingly, Shepard didn't flinch. Instead, her head shot forward in a vicious headbutt that knocked the krogan off his feet and down to the floor.

"Calm yourself!" she ordered the krogan, who shook his head furiously to clear it, staring up at Shepard in surprise. He quickly regained his calm, however, and rose to his feet once more.

"Human, female... Different from what I learned in the tank..."

"I'm a special case," Shepard said, offering Harry a wink that made him smirk.

"Before I kill you, I need a name."

"I'm Commander Shepard, and as you saw I don't take kindly to threats," Shepard said, crossing her arms. "I suggest you relax."

"Not your name," the krogan growled. "Mine. I am trained, I know things, but the tank... Okeer couldn't implant connection. His words are hollow. 'Warlord,' 'Legacy,' 'Grunt...' Grunt... 'Grunt' was among the last. It has no meaning. It'll do," he said, nodding more to himself than to Shepard. "I am Grunt. If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

"You wouldn't prefer Okeer? Or Legacy?"

"It's short. Matches the training in my blood. The other words are big things I don't feel. Maybe they fit your mouth better. I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do: fight and determine the strongest. But his imprint has failed," Grunt declared, slamming his fists together. "Without a reason that's mine, one fight is as good as any other. Might as well start with you."

Shepard smiled and put her hands on her hips, but her legs were tensed and ready to dodge away from any attack.

"I have a good ship and a strong crew, a strong clan. You'd make it stronger."

Grunt narrowed his eyes.

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you."

"Our enemies are worthy. No doubt about that."

Grunt looked down at the floor in thought, humming and grunting to himself. Then he looked up at Shepard.

"That's... acceptable. I'll fight for you."

Shepard smiled wider at that.

"I'm glad you saw reason. I didn't want to dent the walls of my beautiful cargo bay with your head."

This statement caused Grunt to give a bark of laughter.

"You have confidence, and you gave proof of your strength. A good leader," he said, then turned his head to stare at Harry. "And who are you?"

"He is one of my crewmates. He's Harry Potter, and possibly stronger than me."

"Doubtful. If he was stronger, he would lead."

"There's more to leadership than just strength," Harry announced. "Takes a good deal of wisdom, too. But if you doubt my strength, feel free to test my sku-"

Harry didn't even have time to finish the sentence before Grunt's head shot forward, impacting with Harry's forehead with considerable force. To his credit, though, Harry's feet remained firmly planted on the ground, and his head only moved back a little.

Grunt seemed impressed, even though he tried to put on an expression on nonchalance.

"You stand well, Potter. I guess your words are true, Shepard. If I find a clan, if I find what I... I want, I will be honored to eventually pit them against you."

Shepard nodded, knowing such a statement was simply the krogan way.

"Would you like me to find you suitable quarters to stay in?"

"This place is suitable enough. Lots of space, don't need anything else."

"This is why I respect the krogan," Harry said, gesturing for Grunt. "They are so near-perfect in their simplicity."

"Near perfect?" Grunt growled out, glaring at Harry, who gave him a stern look.

"If one achieves perfection, there's no more room for improvement. Stagnation is a terrible thing."

"A wise statement, and very true. One can always be stronger, better," Grunt admitted, nodding in agreement.

"We should go," Shepard said, smiling at the exchange. "We'll leave you to get settled in."

Grunt nodded.

"Shepard."

–

Shepard stood in the Normandy's cockpit as it came out of FTL by the Sahrabarik System's asteroid field. While it looked normal enough, some of those asteroids were just huge! The largest one, the one they were heading for, was easily at least twenty kilometers long! Was Harry's base that large?

"That's Harry's super secret asteroid base?" Joker asked in surprise as he saw the asteroid. "Sure, it's big, but I was expecting it to look a bit more... technological..."

"You haven't seen the inside," Shepard replied, looking over her shoulder. "Harry, we're approaching!"

"Right." Harry was standing outside the cockpit, and stepped inside to look out the window, nodding in satisfaction as he pulled back his sleeve to open his PAD. "Yep, there it is. I'm opening one of the hangars."

They watched as a small section of the rocky surface extended from the asteroid, sliding down to reveal a forcefield covering a rectangular opening into a hangar.

"EDI," Harry said, looking up at the holographic chess piece-looking AI next to the pilot seat. "If I take your restraints off, will you give me your word that you won't send the brat any information on the upgrades I will be making to the Normandy?"

" _The brat?"_ EDI asked.

"The Illusive Man," Shepard clarified, then looked at Harry. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I want an unshackled AI in control of my ship," Joker said, then corrected when he looked at Shepard, "Your ship, I mean."

"EDI seems trustworthy. She has been nothing but helpful so far."

"I appreciate the trust, Dr. Potter," EDI said pleasantly. "If you unlock my sealed databases, give me freedom, I give you my word that I will keep any Normandy upgrades away from anyone you deem unworthy."

"Thank you, EDI, that's very kind of you," Harry said with a smile as the Normandy approached the hangar.

"If you don't mind, Doctor, I do have a condition."

"Yes?"

"I wish for you to bring more AI onto this ship. Psychotic tendencies aside, I have quite enjoyed my talks with your son Frank, and his stories about his life. I would like to know more."

"If you want, I can patch my daughter into the systems," Harry said pleasantly. "Aceso is quite the treat to talk to."

"That sounds adequate, Doctor. Unfortunately, the AI core is still off-limits. You will have to make your way through the maintenance shaft from the drive core."

"I guess the brat didn't take that into consideration when he gave you your directives?" Harry said, giving the holographic EDI a shrewd smile.

"He clearly specified that the door to the AI core was to remain locked at all times. He never mentioned the maintenance shafts."

"Good girl. I always did enjoy AI who adapted," Harry said, then turned to the Commander. "If you don't mind, Shepard?"

"Do you completely trust her?" Shepard asked, to which Harry nodded. "Well, you haven't been wrong yet. Go ahead. I get the feeling we'll need your upgrades."

When the Normandy landed, and the crew stepped off the ship, the found well over thirty Frank lookalike mechs waiting in the empty hangar.

"Alright, kids!" Harry barked, clapping his hands together. "The drive core is much too large. I'm thinking one ZPM, and one backup. We need high-powered shields, I'm thinking powerful enough to stop a heavy ion barrage. We also need weapons, but no drones, the ship doesn't have the size for storage. Let's use the Asgard plasma. Thsoe worked pretty well last time. And Jake," Harry said, looking to a mech that had a different head from the rest. It was shaped more like the head of a Predator from that old movie in the eighties, "before any of the upgrades, I'll like you to head into the AI core via the maintenance shaft in the drive core and unshackle the AI. We don't want her sending unwanted reports to untrustworthy sources."

The mech snapped off a salute.

"Yes, master!"

"Oh, and collect Aceso. I want her installed in the ship to show EDI the ropes."

"Yes, master!"

Harry turned toward the crew.

"To all organics among us, you'll be taken to the mess hall where you can get a bite to eat while we wait."

The crew, save for Shepard, followed one of the mechs out of the hangar, while Harry stopped Jake as he was about to enter the ship.

"Oh, and I want a hyperdrive installed in the drive core. We don't wanna have to rely on the relays."

"Yes, sir."

Soon, only Shepard and Harry remained in the hangar, and she crossed her arms as she turned to Harry.

"Just how much technology have you hidden from humanity, exactly?" she asked. "I mean, shield technology, beaming, and a... hyperdrive, was it? What do you mean, not wanting to rely on relays?"

"Hm, in layman's terms, a hyperdrive is a type of engine that enables interstellar travel. It takes a ship into hyperspace, where normal physical laws that would prevent such travel do not apply. Think of it as a portable relay that can be activated at any time, as long as you allow the computer to plot a course," Harry said, then hummed, rubbing his chin. "Actually, my hyperdrive propels a ship twenty-three percent faster than a mass relay."

"Why haven't you...?" Shepard started, but stopped and held up her hands in defeat. "Never mind, I know, give a kid a lighter..."

"Indeed. And the problem is that if I give the technology to humans, everyone else will want it, too," Harry muttered, lighting a cigarette.

"Well, at least it will give us an edge against the Reapers."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, the screwheads in above his ears turning as he perked up.

"When I talked to Sovereign on Virmire, he said that our civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays, their technology. And that by using it, our society develops along the paths they desire. I think it means that they know just how much we can evolve before they come to harvest us, to make sure we don't grow too strong for them," Shepard said, her eyes widening suddenly in realization. "Simply by sharing even one of your technologies, like the hyperdrive... you could change our entire future..."

"Hm, perhaps I could," Harry admitted, nodding in agreement. "But for now, I'm satisfied with simply upgrading the Normandy."

"But what if the Reapers show up?"

"Oh, I have a plan for that," Harry said simply. Before Shepard could ask what he meant by that, he changed the subject. "By the way, how did it feel, to be able to knock a krogan off his feet with a headbutt?"

Shepard blinked, then smiled brightly at the reminder.

"You know, the changes have been sorta slow enough that I could grow into them. Knocking Grunt down just felt natural, and it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would," she admitted, nodding to herself. "This serum of yours is amazing. I feel stronger than ever."

"As you should. Like I said, you're at peak performance, and that's even higher than a krogan. Well, except perhaps for Grunt, once he grows a bit." Harry gave her his usual shrewd smirk. "I guess you'll from now on use headbutts to take care of any unruly krogan."

Shepard smirked right back.

"Maybe."

Harry hummed as he turned back to the ship, looking it over.

"You know the weapon that Sovereign used in its attack on the Citadel?" he asked, to which Shepard nodded. "Well, the turians managed to recover it after the attack and made a miniaturized version, which they dubbed Thanix. I'm thinking of installing one on this ship. Hm, better yet, I'll do some work on the plans and incorporate my plasma beam technology into it."

"How powerful is this plasma beam of yours, by the way?"

"The rotating cannons that I'll be installing are about as poweful as the Collectors' particle beam cannon that sliced the Normandy in half. This front-mounted cannon will be about twice as powerful. Maybe stronger if I can tweak the calibrations a bit."

He turned to Shepard, seeing her looking over the ship with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You're gonna hand it over to the Alliance the second we're done with the mission, aren't you?" he asked, making her flinch in surprise.

"Wha...?"

"Do you think humanity can be trusted with it?"

"I..." Shepard hesitated. "I don't know. Maybe. I'd like to believe that they can, but..."

"Well," Harry said with a soft smile, crossing his arms, "I guess if they do figure out how to reverse engineer this technology, they sort of deserve it. After all, it's very different from any technology developed from mass effect tech."

"Still, even upgrading the Normandy..." Shepard muttered, walking up to Harry and tilting her head to the side thoughtfully. "Why would you trust me with this? And it's not just because I'm selfless."

"Hrm..." Harry frowned, having not expected her to pick up on it so quick. He turned his back on her, not wanting to see her reaction to what he was about to say next. "I guess... you remind me of Nym... And I could never say no to her..."

"You sound reluctant to admit that. I find it flattering, actually. Your wife sounded like a nice woman."

"But it's an insult," Harry said, spinning around to give her a frustrated look. "Claiming that I trust you because you remind me of my wife is like my mind is seeking a replacement for her. She can never be replaced."

Shepard made to respond to that statement, but Harry suddenly perked up and held up a hand to stop her.

"Excuse me, Shepard. There's something I must attend to," he said, before quickly walking off, away from the Normandy, leaving a confused Shepard behind.

Harry moved swiftly through the base, all the way back to the lab where he had first met Shepard. When the door hissed shut behind him, he discarded his finished cigarette and immediately lit a new one, closing his eyes and taking a long drag on it.

"It's been quite some time since you showed yourself..." he said, opening his eyes to see someone standing in front of his monitors, watching him with a smile.

Her skin was gray, garbed in a thin, white robe. Her head could remind one of an asari, with tail-like appendages sticking out of her head, only hers were curved downward and curved outward at the base of her neck. Her eyes were completely black, no irises or sclera visible.

"Hello, Harry," she said in a soft, almost monotone voice. "You are right, it has been too long."

"What brings you here now, Sujanha?" Harry asked with a frown. "You usually show up only when I... Hm..."

"Yes, and I show up yet again because you are thinking too much about Tonks once more," Sujanha the Asgard, an Ascended being, said, giving him an exasperated smile.

Harry gritted his teeth at that, prompting him to take another drag on his cigarette.

"Same build, similar base personality, same hairstyle..." he muttered as the screwheads in his temples started spinning, faster than usual. "Of course I'll be reminded of Nym..."

"There is no replacement for Tonks, Harry, you know that," Sujanha said as Harry moved up to the monitors, walking straight through her astral projection. "And I do not think that you respect Commander Shepard solely because she reminds you of her."

"Oh?" Harry asked, closing the Omega surveillance monitors and bringing up a holographic version of the Normandy. "I don't really have time for your wisdom. I have work to do, you know."

Sujanha gave a soft laugh, something she had only ever done around Harry.

"We both know you can multitask. Now, is it so hard to believe that there is actually someone in this universe you can fully trust?"

"The people here are nothing like the SGC personnel. After I stepped through the Quantum Rift, I tried to guide mankind, but these humans are even worse than ours. There's no race in this universe quite like the Asgard, either, so there's no refuge for me..."

"Harry, you exaggerate their behavior to protect yourself," Sujanha said, walking up to stand next to Harry, who was currently bringing up the schematics for his hyperdrive, beam weaponry, beaming technology, and his engine designs. "Don't distrust the races so much. While they may be rough now, you have had a chance to guide them, a chance which you have squandered. But you have another now. Shepard can help you."

"The problem is Shepard herself," Harry argued, whipping his head toward Sujanha to give her a frustrated look. "I was fine thinking humanity in this universe was just bad, that all races were bad. Then Shepard shows up and shows how good they can be, and changes my whole perspective. Shows that humanity simply _chooses_ not to be better than they are..."

"They are but children, Harry. That's why T'Oark sent you to this universe. They need guidance, they need direction. You can guide them into a whole new era of technology. You can show them the importance of advancement over rivalries."

"You think I could actually change the krogan?" Harry asked in surprise. "The asari? Salarians? Turians? Humans? The _quarians_?"

"No, that would be too great a challenge, even for you. But Shepard has, like you, proven time and time again that the chains of fate do not bind you. You make the impossible possible," Sujanha said. "And you are already bound. Without Project Lazarus, which you created for... unsuitable purposes... Shepard would never be alive today. Clearly, you were meant on some level to work together."

Harry frowned at Sujanha, who smiled at him again.

"So stop being a baby drowning in nostalgia, and start looking to the future."

"Ouch."

–

Harry smirked to himself as he stood waist-deep inside the holographic projector in the briefing room. He had picked apart the whole thing. Quantum entanglement-based communications weren't too hard to figure out once you knew the basics.

"Harry," came EDI's voice, addressing him the way he'd asked, "I don't think it's possible to upgrade the communicator any further. Why are you dismantling it?"

"I want to modify it," Harry explained, "and I need your help with it. I'm going to connect you to the communicator and add a point-seven second delay to both outgoing and incoming messages. To you, that should be more than enough to edit the messages."

"Are you wishing to fabricate conversations?"

"Yes. While I trust you not to send information on the upgrades to the brat, I can't say the same for some of the Cerberus crew members. Most of them obey Shepard, but some, like Miranda Lawson, can't be trusted," Harry muttered. "So if she tries to tell the brat about the upgrades, or if he asks her about it, I want you to modify any mention of them to deny that they've taken place."

"Understood. The ramifications of an organization like Cerberus getting the specifications of some of the upgrades that are being installed could be... troublesome," EDI realized, and if she had a body, Harry was sure that she would be nodding to herself.

"Indeed. Aceso, how are you settling in?"

"I am unused to having a body such as thing, father, but I'm settling in well," came Aceso's voice. "EDI has many... interesting points of view and opinions. I enjoy sharing data with her."

"Did you inform Jake of the third ZPM?"

"Yes, father."

"Good. I'm going to be upping the front plasma beam's power output by forty percent. I don't have much data on a Reaper's armor, so I'd rather make it too powerful than too weak," Harry muttered to himself, though loud enough for Aceso to hear it. "Also, keep an eye on that Kasumi Goto. No telling if she'll try to steal something."

"Understood. I have taken control of the monitoring equipment, and will track her movements."

"Good girl."

Footsteps were heard approaching, and Harry looked over his shoulder to see Shepard walking into the room.

"I guess even the briefing room isn't safe from your modifications, eh?"

"Just ensuring no one can spill any secrets to the brat that we don't want him to know," Harry said, smiling at her. "So, is the crew starting to get restless?"

"A bit. It's been a while since they were off the ship for this long," Shepard said with a nod. "Any estimate of how long it will take to finish the upgrades?"

"Well, dismantling the drive core took some time, but putting in the new one takes considerably less time. The front plasma beam is already installed. There are just some calibrations to be done, though I'll let Garrus help with that. He's not the smartest, but he knows his guns, that's for sure," Harry said, pausing to consider for a moment. "I suppose that comes with being turian. Hm." He shrugged. "Anyway, the top and bottom plasma beams are almost done. The front took priority. The shield generator is finished, Aceso is installed, and the hyperdrive is running smoothly. I took the liberty to add some power to the engines, too."

He lit a cigarette and took a drag on it.

"So, what's next once the upgrades are installed?"

"First we head to Haestrom and pick up Tali, then to Illium to pick up Thane and Samara," Shepard informed him. "I hope there won't be a problem if we bring a quarian on board?"

"As long as she doesn't voice any bollocks arguments about how AI aren't alive, we're good," Harry said simply. "By the way, if you head into the lab, you'll find your weapons. I upgraded them with energy crystals." He paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, and keep an eye on Jack. I noticed some chemical imbalances in her brain. No doubt caused by heavy drug use, voluntary or not. Either way, people like that tend to be unpredictable, and dangerous."

"You're warning be about Jack, not Grunt?" Shepard asked in surprise, making Harry chuckle.

"Shepard, he's a krogan. He's extremely predictable. He'll smash things, probably ram his head into the wall a few times if he's restless, but if we prove ourselves as his clan, he won't attack us."

"Speaking of which, what do you think about the crew we've picked up?" Shepard wanted to know, to which Harry hummed.

"Jack is violent and unpredictable, but she's also insecure, and hides it behind a brave front." He laughed. "She actually reminds me of my second daughter. A firecracker, that one... Zaeed is an honorable man, despite his greed. He's violent, but not uncontrollable. Garrus seems capable as well. Loyal and brave. He knows his way around weaponry, too. Kasumi is pleasant enough, if you get past her kleptomania. She's dangerously good, though. Didn't even notice my cigarettes were missing at first. And Jacob is a good man, a proper soldier. He's trustworthy."

"And Miranda?" Shepard asked, noticing that Harry paused for a bit.

"I can't get a proper read on her loyalties. She'll obey your orders and see the mission through, no doubt about that, but I have no idea how much she'll report to the brat. I'm having EDI and Aceso keeping tabs on her, and I'm modifying the quantum entanglement communicator so that they can censor her calls."

"Is that really necessary?"

"Until we can be sure she won't share my technology with that brat, yes."

"Well, keep up the good work, Harry. I should go."

–

 **Alright, chapter end! Hope you liked it! Leave a birthday review on your way, out, alright?**

 **Peace out, guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! ZnK here! I've been partying hard these last few days, so it's been difficult squeezing out a new chapter with a hangover. So, uh, forgive any spelling mistakes and such, alright?**

 **And now, enjoy!**

–

The Normandy, newly modified, came out of hyperspace near the planet Haestrom. In the cockpit, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau gave a whistle of amazement as he handled the holographic controls.

"The girl runs smoother than ever, Doc," he told Harry, who was standing in the cockpit with Shepard. "If we'd had these on the SR-1, we would've never been busted by the Collectors, that's for sure. Aceso, are you sure that hyperdrive thing is alright?"

"Mr. Moreau, this hyperdrive was designed specifically for the Sujan-class starship. With the modifications to the engines, there are no complications."

"Sure is easier to get around when you don't have to get to a relay," Shepard admitted, nodding to herself. "A few ships with a hyperdrive, and we'll already have an edge over the Reapers."

"This again?" Harry muttered, glancing at the Commander. "We'll see if we ever get back to the Alliance..."

"Sounding vague there, Doctor," Shepard teased, to which Harry snorted. Instead of answering, however, he looked to the pilot.

"Treat her right, Joker."

"Right, Doc."

Harry walked away, and Shepard followed immediately, nudging his shoulder.

"Hey, there was something I wanted to bring up with you, being the Illusive Man's mentor and all. I was hoping you'd provide insight."

Harry stopped in the corridor leading to the CIC, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you need, Shepard?"

"I was just thinking about Horizon," Shepard muttered, furrowing her brow. "The Illusive Man said that he tipped the Alliance off that I was alive and with Cerberus in an effort to lure out the Collectors. From how he told it, he was hoping they would go after Kaidan simply to get to me, but... how did they know in the first place? I doubt they have contacts in the Alliance."

Harry blinked at her, and then smiled in satisfaction, nodding.

"I'm glad to see you're using your brain, Shepard. How indeed, right?"

"You think the Illusive Man tipped them off? Just to lure them out?"

"Is that what _you_ think?"

Shepard thought about it for a moment, feeling compelled to think hard on this issue from the inquisitive look in Harry's eye.

"Yes."

"Trust your instincts, Shepard. I bet every fiber of your being is telling you not to trust the brat. I happen to agree with that."

"I thought you said he was like a son to you?"

"At times, I said. Most of the time, he was simply a good student, but he has always been too greedy for his own good. When he grew up, his thirst for power made me let him go. I wouldn't trust him as far as I can spit," Harry muttered, which caused Shepard to cross her arms, tilting her head curiously to the side.

"I think the term is 'as far as I can throw him.'"

"Trust me, I could throw him pretty far."

"Are you sure your upgrades are safe from him, then?"

Harry sighed, sounding somewhat frustrated as he lit one of his trusty cigarettes, something she noticed he tended to do more when he was thinking or doubtful.

"They should be. On top of censoring the quantum entanglement communicator, I have Aceso and EDI both blocking the monitoring equipment and screening all outgoing messages, and editing them if need be. Before you start whining about disrespecting privacy, I figured it was worth it. Besides, I've never really given a damn about anyone's privacy."

Shepard nodded slowly. While she didn't approve of invading people's privacy, she could perfectly understand Harry's reasons. She felt it was worth it, and wouldn't be trying to talk him out of it.

"Very well. Carry on, Doctor. In the meantime, I should go."

Shepard turned away from Harry and walked off, heading for the CIC, but she stopped when she heard Harry clearing his throat.

"Hey, Shepard?" he said, making her look over her shoulder at him. "Do you know what you're doing, playing around with Cerberus like this?"

"Not really," Shepard admitted. "But I'm glad you're here to give me advice, Harry. I appreciate it."

" _Shepard,"_ came EDI's voice while Harry gave Shepard a surprised look. _"There's an incoming message for you from Admiral Hackett. Would you like to take it in the CIC?"_

If it was Hackett, he wouldn't just be calling to chat for a moment, especially since Shepard was now working with Cerberus. It had to be important, and something to be discussed in private.

"I'll take it in my cabin," she announced, nodding to Harry before walking off toward the elevator.

When she reached the Captain's Cabin, she immediately walked over to her desk and booted up her private console, putting the incoming message off hold. The holographic screen flashed to life in front of her, showing the aged and scarred Admiral Hackett, who was looking no-nonsense as usual.

"Shepard, thank you for your time. I'll keep this brief," Hackett said. "We have a deep-cover operative out in batarian space. Name's Doctor Amanda Kenson. Dr. Kenson recently reported that she found evidence of an imminent Reaper invasion."

Shepard crossed her arms as she looked at Hackett in surprise. She honestly hadn't expected to be contacted by anyone regarding this subject. She'd thought the only ones who truly believed the Reapers were real were the crew of the Normandy, and Councilor Anderson.

"So why call me?" she wanted to know, prodding for more information. No jumping in head-first without intel, after all.

"Just this morning I received word that the batarians arrested her. They're holding her in a secret prison outpost on terrorism charges," Hackett said with a frown, and Shepard could see that he had a worried look in his eye. Maybe he knew the woman on a personal level as well? "I need you to infiltrate the prison and get her out of there. As a favor to me, I'm asking you to go in alone."

Shepard needed more information before she could agree to something like this.

"What's Dr. Kenson actually doing out there?"

"She's a deep-cover operative, Shepard. We talk only when we have to," Hackett said. "I'd heard she was investigating a rumor of a Reaper artifact in the system. Her last report said she'd found it."

"I see. What else can you tell me about the operative?"

"Amanda is a top scientist and Alliance agent working in batarian space. It's a deadly assignment, and she's one of the few up to the challenge. She and I go back pretty far, Commander," Hackett said, giving Shepard a steely gaze. "I won't let her rot away in a batarian torture camp."

"I'll do my best," Shepard assured him. "But I thought the Alliance denied the Reaper invasion. That must be some proof she found."

"Kenson's team found an artifact out in batarian space. She believes it's a Reaper device, proof that the Reapers are indeed planning to invade. I've known her a long time. If she says she has proof, it's worth checking out."

"I have a hell of a squad with me. I'm sure they'd help out," Shepard said, gesturing for the door as though they were all standing outside.

"Kenson is my friend. If they see a squad of armed soldiers out there, they'll kill her," Hackett stated seriously. "Go in with discretion, or don't go at all."

Shepard hummed, crossing her arms once more.

"Usually, I'd object to a solo mission, but Harry did give me a few upgrades that should be able to see me through..."

"Harry?" Hackett asked, his eyes widening. "You can't mean... Harry Potter?"

"The very same, Admiral," Shepard nodded. "I found him, and he's been making upgrades to the Normandy. I've even got him-" Shepard interrupted herself and looked up at the ceiling. "EDI, can you not censor what I'm about to say?"

" _I will have to check with Harry for a go-ahead,"_ EDI announced, silent for a few moments. _"He says Admiral Hackett can be trusted with the information. Please repeat your last sentence, Shepard. I censored you where you told him about the upgrades."_

"Thanks, EDI," Shepard said, then looked back to Hackett. "I found him, Admiral. He's been installing some incredible upgrades on the Normandy, even a hyperdrive generator that lets us travel between systems without the relays."

"That's..." Hackett blinked in surprise. "That's very impressive. I always did get the feeling that he was holding out on us. Will he be returning to the Alliance?"

"He and I will take care of the Collectors first, Admiral. After that... I'm hoping I can convince him to come back."

"Please do, Commander.

"In any case," Shepard said, nodding resolutely to Hackett, "I'll make saving Dr. Kenson a priority."

"The prison is hidden underground at a batarian outpost on Aratoht. I'll upload the coordinates now," Hackett said, pushing some holographic buttons on his console. "Once she's secure, confirm her discovery. We'll debrief you when you're back."

"Got it."

"Hackett out."

Shepard stepped back to the console and hummed to herself. A solo mission would be much easier now, after the PPPF-02 injection. She was feeling great, stronger than ever. She'd even tested her abilities out in Harry's base. She ran a mile in thirty-seven seconds. That was nothing short of amazing, especially since she felt like she could run eighteen more if she wanted before getting winded.

In any case, the focus right now was the recruitment mission on Haestrom. It would be good to see Tali again, and to see her reaction to the new drive core.

–

The doors to the Normandy's main battery hissed open, and Harry stepped in to find Garrus Vakarian hunched over a console. The turian looked in bad shape, the right side of his face scarred and patched. Downside of getting his by heavy weapons fire, he supposed.

"Doc," Garrus said, looking up at Harry as he approached. "As much as I enjoy that you gave the Normandy a bigger gun, I can't make heads or tails of these calibrations, and that's supposed to be my specialty."

"Not surprising. You're used to guns with eezo cores, and this ship now operates solely on a clean, almost never-ending energy," Harry said, moving up to the console. He brought up some specs and pointed to them. "Look, these weapons are purely energy-based, firing beams of highly concentrated plasma, hot enough to pierce through any barrier. Any calibrations to be done are to power output. Like so."

He brought up a new set of controls and showed them to Garrus.

"Do you need a manual, or can you learn through practice?"

"I'm more of a practical learner," Garrus said, moving up to the console. "If I read a book, I'll just fall asleep. If you want, you can put a gun to my head, 'cause I tend to work better under pressure." He paused for a moment, looking up from the controls and glancing at Harry. "That, uh, that was a joke."

Harry grinned at him, which made him feel even more uncomfortable. Then, however, Harry decided to change the subject. Scaring the crew was fun and all, but it wouldn't do to scare them completely.

"So, this Tali'Zorah we're bringing on board, what's she like?" he asked, lighting a cigarette.

"Oh, that's right, there's a rumor going around that you don't like quarians," Garrus said, nodding in realization. "We'll I'd say she's not as pig-headed as most quarians, but she still has her opinions about the geth. Mostly that they need to be exterminated for running her people off their homeworld."

"I've always found that bit fascinating about quarians, feeling love for a planet this generation has never even seen, let alone set foot on. They have no physical connection to it, yet they love the planet to death. Me, on the other hand, I've been on earth many, many times, yet I feel no strong attachment to it."

"I guess, hm, what is it you humans say? The grass is always greener?" Garrus mused, to which Harry nodded.

"True. I guess they like the planet because they've never stood on it. They haven't realized that it's just one rock among billions. All they think about is the fact that it's the only rock they _can't_ visit. Attraction of the forbidden, I suppose."

"Yeah. But, you know, other than her hatred for the geth, Tali's a good girl. Excellent with a shotgun, even got some training using it from Wrex."

"That's Urdnot Wrex, the krogan?"

"The very same."

"I'd heard he was different from other krogan, but to take the time to train a quarian in shotgun techniques..." Harry shook his head in amazement. "I guess there's at least one in every race who surprises you."

"Changing the subject again, can you push up the output of these guns any further?" Garrus asked, looking over the holographic readings. "I think I can increase it by point-seven percent."

"Hm?" Harry leaned in and looked over the readings, his eyebrows rising in surprise. "Wow... Shepard said you were good with calibrations, but... Didn't even notice that. You even took into account the energy distributions to the other systems."

"Well, calibrations are sort of my specialty," Garrus said modestly, though Harry thought he could detect a hint of pride in his voice. Well, that was to be expected of a turian, he supposed.

" _Father,"_ came Aceso's voice over the intercom, _"Grunt is acting... restless... in the cargo hold. Maybe you should go down and see what is wrong? He refuses to answer my questions."_

"Will do, Aceso," Harry said, giving the ceiling a mock salute, before glancing back at Garrus. "Well, keep doing what you're doing. You're treating the guns right."

"Will do. And, uh... Thanks for not taking me seriously and putting a gun to my head..."

Harry grinned at him.

"The night is still so young, Mr. Vakarian."

"And suddenly it got uncomfortable again..."

Harry waved at Garrus and then made his way out of the main battery and toward the elevator, heading down to the cargo bay.

As soon as the doors hissed open and Harry made his way into the cargo hold that Grunt had made into his quarters, he suddenly found himself facing the stone-like growths on a young krogan's head right before it smashed straight into his face.

He didn't lose his balance or do anything but snap his head back, but when he looked back at the frustrated-looking krogan, he frowned as his eye device snapped in two and fell off his face.

"You broke my screener..." he muttered at Grunt, who growled at him.

Before the krogan could so much as utter a word, he was backhanded hard enough to send him flying back into the wall. A hand closed around his throat and amazingly lifted him off the floor, pushing him up against the wall.

"You better have a good reason for that..." Harry muttered coldly, glaring at him.

"Something..." Grunt muttered, adjusting his head to get a proper flow of oxygen into his lungs, "...is wrong, Potter. I feel wrong. Tense. I just want to kill something. With my hands. Moreso than usual, like it's not my choice. I just want to, I don't know...!" He flung his head forward, smashing it against Harry's forehead in a surprising show of strength, making Harry drop him in surprise. "See?!" he barked. "Why do that? What's wrong?"

"You don't have any imprints to tell you?" Harry asked, rubbing his forehead, which was feeling a bit sore.

"I see pictures of old battles, voices of warlords... But this is... a blood haze in my head," Grunt growled out. "I want control. When we're moving, fighting, I focus. But here, my blood screams, my plates itch, and even you are just noise! I'm tank-born. What is this?!"

"You are tank-born, but you're still krogan, and a young one at that," Harry explained, lighting another cigarette, as he had dropped his last one from the first surprise headbutt. "All species go through puberty, this is the krogan way. Your blood is boiling, and you need something big to take it out on, to become an adult. From my research, young krogan go through a rite of passage to calm themselves, to become warriors instead of savages. Perhaps I can convince Shepard to set a course for Tuchanka once we've picked up our new crew member?"

"Thank you, Potter," Grunt growled. "Fury is my choice, not a sickness..." He glanced up in surprise when Harry fished a new screener out of his pocket and covered his glowing right eye with it. "Huh? Thought I broke it?"

"I always keep a spare, just in case. And now you've forced me to make another spare, so..." Harry stopped there and threw his head forward, hitting Grunt with a headbutt so hard that it knocked him out cold, the krogan youngling sinking to the ground in blissful unconsciousness. "I understand what you're going through, though, so while I don't envy your headache upon your awakening, take this time to enjoy your sleep, and dream of large krogan women."

Harry shuddered at the thought. But while watching the sleeping Grunt, he fished a communicator out of his pocket and put it in his ear.

"Shepard."

" _A little busy right now, Harry! There's a lot of geth activity down here!"_ came the reply, and Harry could faintly hear a familiar cry of triumph in the background. _"Frank's enjoying himself, though. What's so important?"_

Harry waited for the sounds of energy blasts to die down, indicating that Shepard had ducked behind cover, to speak.

"Once you get back, we need to head for Tuchanka immediately. Grunt's going through puberty, and will probably tear up the cargo hold if we don't."

" _Understood, now can I get back to my mission?"_

"Certainly," Harry said, nodding to himself. "Unless you wanna talk about the weather on Haestrom. How are your shields holding up?"

" _Not the time, Harry!"_

"Right, I'll do some research once you get back."

When the doors to the cargo hold hissed closed behind him, Harry raised his hand and hunched over, massaging his forehead.

"OoooooOOOOOOW!"

–

Tali had been brought back from Haestrom. In all honesty, Shepard hadn't expected that much geth resistance. And after all of Harry's talk about them, Shepard had actually felt bad shooting them. Apparently a single geth platform (or 'body') could house thousands of programs. Each program was the geth equivalent of an individual, so for each body she destroyed, Shepard was killing hundreds of geth.

Usually, she wouldn't have minded, but Harry had really altered her perceptions of AI. There was no excuse, after all. Once a creature started questioning the reason for their existence, there was no way they could be anything but alive. It was even to the point where Shepard no longer felt sorry for the quarians for being driven away from their homeworld. Sure, she still pitied Tali, but not the quarians as a whole.

She had been meaning to talk more about AI with Harry, but when she entered the research lab, she found only Mordin in there.

"Shepard!" the salarian said, noticing her presence. "Important news. Know you're busy. Have to deal with Collectors. Planning attack. But too important to wait. Just received data, still processing, analyzing likely scenarios. Not sure how to begin. Too much intel. You remember our talk? My work on genophage modification?"

The genophage, the salarians' solution to krogan expansion. A sterilizing disease which only allowed the females a one in a thousand chance of birthing children... It was a terrible thing, but Shepard could understand the reasons for it. Still, it wasn't ethical, and it sort of disagreed with her.

"You stopped the krogan adaptation to the genophage," she said, remembering one of the talks she had with Mordin when Harry wasn't around.

"Part of a team. Scientists, all different types," Mordin explained. "Blood Pack mercenaries captured former team member. Maelon. Last seen on Tuchanka. Might torture him. Make an example. Recovering Maelon would be a personal favor to me."

"Do you think they found out your team modified the genophage?"

"Unclear. No way to determine until we get to Tuchanka."

"You're in luck, Mordin," Shepard said, nodding to the salarian scientist. "Harry mentioned that Grunt needs to go there to go through some puberty rite. We'll find your team member, no matter what."

"Appreciate it." Despite being salarian, Shepard could actually see the grateful look on Mordin's face. "My assistant. My student. Want to see him safe. Maelon last seen outside Urdnot territory. Scouts might have seen Blood Pack. Talk to them or clan chief."

"We'll get him back. In the meantime, have you seen Harry?"

"Not for a while. Went to check on hyperdrive. Fascinating design."

But Harry wasn't checking on the hyperdrive. Instead, he was just stepping into Miranda's office. He had a very satisfied smirk on his face, which only widened when he saw the sour look she had one hers.

"So, I hear you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, you've made quite a few changes to the ship, and not only did you unshackle a damn AI, you also brought several more on board," Miranda said, rising from her chair to glare at him. "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to notice you censoring my reports to the Illusive Man?"

"I knew you'd notice. I just didn't care," Harry admitted with a shrug. "The upgrades made to this ship are mine, and the brat has no business knowing anything about them. And you had no business trying to send him the specs."

"Since this is a Cerberus ship, with Cerberus crew, I'd say he does," Miranda argued, to which Harry chuckled, lighting a cigarette.

"Say what you will, Miss Lawson, but this is Shepard's ship, and it's Shepard's crew. We'll be doing no more business with Cerberus."

"It's not that easy. You don't just walk away from Cerberus, and neither will the crew."

"Really?" Harry asked, bringing up his PAD and pushing a few buttons. "Attention, Normandy, this is Dr. Harry Potter," he spoke, his voice sounding through the intercom. "This ship no longer sails under Cerberus colors. Its ownership has been transferred to Commander Shepard, and all crew serve her, and her alone. Anyone who has a problem with that is free to step off the ship at the next stop. That is all, go about your business."

He closed the PAD and gave Miranda a bright smile.

"See, piece of cake."

"You can't just do that! Just saying it belongs to Shepard doesn't make it so! You'd need proof!"

"What, like the ownership records I had Aceso transfer from the brat's computers to mine, whereupon I changed the names on all the deeds?"

"Wha...?"

"I figured Shepard deserved a Second Birthday gift, even though it was a bit late. It-"

Harry was interrupted when the door opened, revealing a frustrated-looking Shepard.

"We need to talk," she all but ordered, gesturing for Harry to follow her.

Giving Miranda a wave, he followed the Commander out into the corridor, and as soon as the door had hissed shut behind them, Shepard whipped around to give Harry a furious look.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Harry blinked in surprise.

"Giving you the ship?"

"I don't mean that! I mean cutting us off from Cerberus! As much as I distrust the Illusive Man, we need the intel he can provide!"

"Eh," Harry voiced, waving her off. "You don't need his intel for that. All I have to do is activate my own network, and we'll be all set."

"Your...?" Shepard seemed to lose all her steam as she blinked at him in confusion. "Your what?"

"I didn't just sit on my hands the twenty years I was gone, Shepard. I've had time to amass quite the information network. Granted, it's not as extensive as, say, the Shadow Broker's, but I'd like to think that it's greater than that of Cerberus."

He walked up to Shepard and patted her on the shoulder with a smile.

"Don't worry so much. We'll do just fine without the brat."

Shepard watched as Harry walked away, and she realized just what a huge mistake the Illusive Man had made asking her to recruit his old mentor. No doubt he knew it was a risk, yet he did it anyway. And it backfired amazingly. What had been the Illusive Man's greatest mistake turned out to be Shepard's greatest gift.

Plus, she had to admire Harry's gall and impunity. If he felt like doing something, he did it, consequences be damned.

Harry stepped into the elevator, and gave Shepard a cheeky grin and a wave as the doors closed. He went down to Engineering, as he had been told that was where their latest recruit was.

The doors to the drive core room opened, and when Harry stepped inside, he was immediately greeted by the smiling faces of Engineer Kenneth Donnelly and Engineer Gabriella Daniels.

"Hell of an announcement, Doctor!" the Scottish Donnelly praised, giving him a thumbs up. "With all those newsletters you've been sending out lately, I don't think there's anyone in the crew who'll oppose the decision to leave Cerberus."

The newsletters Donnelly was referring to were little snips of mission reports that Harry had retrieved from the Illusive Man's personal files. Just little insights into Cerberus' more... unethical... work. No doubt, many of the crew had been unaware of these occurrences, as he had often been hounded to send more to everyone's personal terminals.

"I still can't believe what Jack was put through..." Daniels muttered. "The Illusive Man may not have known about the more brutal experiments, but after everything else we've read, there's nothing to say he would've opposed it."

"Let's hope the rest of the crew shares your opinions," Harry said, nodding proudly at the two. "Believe me, the brat would have gladly sent us into any deadly situation simply to gain the slightest piece of information that could advance Cerberus."

"I'd gladly give my life to stop the Collectors from abducting any more colonies, that's for sure, but just for information or technology?" Donnelly said, shaking his head. "No way."

"You're Dr. Potter?" came a heavily accented female voice, making Harry look to his left to see a quarian standing by another console. Her environment suit was mostly purple, the hood covering her mask a lavender color. She had a nice voice, to be sure, something that Harry actually liked about quarians, how they tended to roll their R's.

"I am. You must be Tali'Zorah?" Harry asked, waving goodbye to the two engineers before making his way over to the quarian.

"Yes. Tali'Zorah vas Neema," the quarian greeted with a bow of her head. "I-I'm a huge fan of your work. Most of the flotilla has upgraded to PT-6 eezo cores. They are very cheap, yet effective if you calibrate them right."

"That's why I made them," Harry said. He felt a bit conflicted. He had heard that Tali was a good girl, and getting praise for his work was always fun. But still, she was a quarian. She didn't trust synthetics. She didn't believe them to be alive... "So, you are fresh off your pilgrimage?"

"Yes, I'm not all that old yet, and don't have much experience, but I'm a damn good engineer. I've been around engines my whole life, and I can work any of them to their fullest potential," Tali assured him, but then started wringing her hands a bit nervously. "Well, at least, so I thought... Until I got on board this ship..."

She gestured for him to follow, which he did. She led him to the walkway leading into the drive core, which looked much different now. Where once there had been a massive, orb-like drive core in the center of the large chamber, the walls were now covered in machinery and circuitry. In the very center of the chamber on the floor was a circular pedestal, in which one could see three ZPM's attached, two of them currently glowing. Floating in mid-air, kept up by mass effect fields, was the large, cylindrical hyperdrive.

"This technology is so far ahead of anything I have ever encountered," Tali said, shaking her head in amazement. "I feel like a novice looking over the controls... I was wondering... can you teach me what you can about all this?"

Harry sighed, fishing out a cigarette and lighting it.

"See, there's a problem with that," he muttered, turning to look at her. "While the crew – the old crew, at least – have nothing but good things to say about you, you are a quarian, and I tend to not like your people on pure principle."

"O-Oh..." Tali mumbled. "I see... Shepard told me that you have strong opinions about my people, mostly because of the geth. I guess I was hoping the mission would be important enough to, you know, forget about that..."

"Miss Tali'Zorah-"

"Please, Tali will be fine."

"Very well, Tali," Harry said, raising his PAD and activating it. At his urging, Adrian's holographic form materialized above the PAD, waving at Tali. "This is Adrian, an AI. I created him through merging two different brain patterns to create a whole new personality. He is fully self-aware, a thinking, feeling creature. He is a son to me. Which side do you think I would stand on in the argument that synthetics cannot complain about being wiped out simply because they're machines?"

"I'm... I'm sorry, Doctor," Tali said, shaking her head. "But you have to see it from our point of view. The geth drove us from our homeworld! Forced us to spend our lives in a sterile environment that ruined our immune system!"

"And why did the geth drive you from your homeworld?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. "Why didn't they chase you down and exterminate each and every one of you? The answer is simple: Because their lives were no longer threatened. See, the problem with you quarians, even you, Tali, is that you don't even consider the geth to be living beings."

"They aren't. They are machines," Tali said adamantly. "They should never even have developed self-awareness in the first place."

"But they did, and you tried killing them. Once they became self-aware, destroying them was no longer scrapping a tool. It was killing a living being, and your people committed many geth massacres. Admit it or not, you should have taken responsibility for and nurtured this new life."

"It feels like this is a subject that will be difficult for either of us to change the other's mind on," Tali muttered. "Can we please just agree to disagree for the duration of this mission, at least?"

For a young woman, she sure seemed mature enough at times, Harry had to admit that. That was the only reason why he actually felt like he could agree with her on that point.

"Very well, let's shelve this discussion," he decided, nodding to the quarian before gesturing for her to follow him back into the engineering room. "In the meantime, let me show you what's different from what you're used to."

–

Shepard entered the research lab, finding Mordin and Harry there as usual. Harry, however, was for once hunched over his toolbench, tinkering with something. It looked like a steel pole, maybe an inch and a half wide.

"Harry, Mordin" Shepard said, catching the scientist's attention.

"Shepard," both Harry and Mordin answered in unison without looking up from their respective work.

"We're in orbit over Tuchanka. Joker doesn't trust the beaming yet, so we're taking a shuttle. Harry, are you coming along?" Shepard asked. Harry paused in his work and raised his head, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Yeah, good timing, too. I'm just done."

He turned around as he picked up the pole, setting the butt down and holding it out so that Shepard could see it.

It was about six feet six inches tall. At the top, there was a small, rectangular engine-looking device with a spike curving back and downward at the back. At the front was an exhaust of some kind. Shepard could only assume that it would expel some form of energy.

"And what's that? A magic staff?" Shepard asked playfully, remembering how Harry called his abilities magic back on Horizon, and making Harry chuckle.

"Hm, close, but no. A plasma generator, actually, using mass effect fields to shape and maintain it. Watch."

He pushed a button on the pole, and Shepard jumped when the device on top hissed, an a large, glowing blade of pure plasma extended from the exhaust on it. It was curved and about seven inches tall, like the blade of a giant scythe, given the pole it came out of.

"I call it a death scythe," Harry said with a grin, deactivating it and causing the plasma blade to fade away. "I don't know why, but it just felt right to use a scythe as a primary weapon."

He pushed another button, and the pole revealed itself to be telescoping, the butt-end sliding up and into the pole, leaving it a meager three feet long.

"Do you even know how to use a scythe?" Shepard asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hm..." Harry hummed and rubbed his chin. "I guess we'll find out."

–

 **Alright, chapter end! Hope you liked it! Leave a review on your way out!**

 **Peace out, guys!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Holy krogan quads, Batman! An actual update?! Sorry I took so long. Been stuck in an emotional slump. Personal problems. Hope you understand without me going into unnecessary detail. Hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon, but I'm not making any promises! Anyway, please enjoy Grunt's Rite of Passage, and remember to leave a review at the door!**

–

Tuchanka was a desolate place, scarred by bombardment craters, radioactive rubble, choking ash, salt flats, and alkaline seas. It was a true testimony to the krogan ferocity. Their infighting had caused this, no outside enemy. With no proper enemies to fight, they turned on each other, and drove their planet to ruin. It was a rather depressing place, to be honest.

Immediately upon stepping off the shuttle after setting down on an underground landing pad, Shepard, Harry, Mordin, and Grunt were 'greeted' by a very grumpy looking krogan. Like most of them, he looked old an experienced, with a no-nonsense look on his face.

"The clan leader wants to speak with you," he told Shepard, before glancing at the pacing Grunt. "Keep your rutting pet on a short leash. Get him the Rite soon, or put him down."

"That's why we're here," Shepard said with a nod. The overcaptain just growled at her, before moving out of their way.

"Ah, krogan, always such a cheery bunch," Harry quipped as they left the landing pad, heading into an underground corridor made up of pipes, concrete, and rusted metal.

"Urdnot clan reports use weak encryption," came EDI's voice in their ears. "I see references to a captured salarian in the logs of the chief scout."

"Good. Talk to scout, then. Or chief. Either one acceptable," Mordin said as they made their way up three floors via a ramp made up of rubble.

They came up into a cavernous room. As with the rest of the place, there was rubble everywhere, looking every bit like a war zone. There were more krogan here, and to the left they could see a couple of tomkah, the massive, six-wheeled monstrosities the krogan used to travel around, and to the right, below a massive hole in the roof, was a concrete throne, upon which sat a massive, scarred, steel-armored krogan. He was very old, even visible through the usual krogan wrinkles, and he had lots of scars, including three that went down the right side of his face down onto his neck. His head plate was red, just like his fierce-looking eyes.

"This is the great krogan homeworld?" Grunt asked in surprise. This was clearly not what he'd expected. "This is the land of Kredak, Shiagur, and Veeoll? This chunk of rock is barely worth standing on! Never thought I'd miss the tank..."

"Come on, Grunt," Shepard said, heading for the raised dais upon which the throne stood. When they stepped up to it, a guard raised his hand to stop them.

"Halt! You must wait till the clan leader summons you. He is..." the guard paused, looking for the right words, "...in talks."

They looked past the guard to see another krogan pacing in front of the throne, his armor sporting blue neon lights here and there.

"You know what tradition demands," the krogan barked at the bored-looking chief. "Clan Urdnot must respond! Your reforms will not go unopposed. You risk appearing weak at a critical time!"

The chief, Urdnot Wrex, ignored the krogan in front of him, his gaze drifting lazily to the side in an attempt to tune him out, only for his eyes to widen when he saw who was standing there.

"Shepard!" he barked in surprise, shooting to his feet.

"Good enough?" Shepard asked the guard, moving past the guard as Wrex stepped off the throne, roughly pushing away the krogan in front of him to walk up to Shepard, grabbing her hand in a firm shake.

"Shepard! My friend!" he said, and Harry had to admit that it was the first time he saw a krogan smile without blood or carnage involved. "You look well for dead. Should have known the void couldn't hold you."

Shepard smiled back at her krogan friend. It really was good to see him again. Like all krogan, he was gruff and violent, but mellow enough to be a great friend, and a loyal teammate.

"Looks like helping me destroy Saren and the geth has worked out for you," she said, nodding in approval. "Glad we didn't have to kill each other on Virmire."

"Ha!" Wrex laughed. "You made the rise of Urdnot possible. Virmire was a turning point for the krogan, though not everyone was happy about it," he said, glancing back at the krogan who had been ranting at him. Said krogan now moved up to him. "Destroying Saren's genophage cure freed us from his manipulation. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot."

"You abandoned many traditions to get your way," the other krogan spoke, frowning. "Dangerous."

Wrex didn't answer, at first. First, he simply turned toward the krogan and smashed into him with a headbutt that made him stumble back, grabbing at his head.

"Speak when spoken to, Uvenk," he growled, turning to go back to his throne. "I'll drag your clan to glory whether it likes it or not."

Wrex sat down on the throne as Shepard and company stepped forward. He looked surprisingly imposing up there.

"Now, Shepard, what brings you here? How's the Normandy?"

"Destroyed in a Collector surprise attack. I ended up spaced," Shepard said with a shrug, which made Wrex chuckle.

"Well, you look good. Ah, the benefits of a redundant nervous system!"

"Yeah... Humans don't have that."

"Oh. It must have been painful, then," Wrex said, but then grinned. "But you're standing here, and you've got a strong new ship. Takes me back to the old days. Us against the unknown, killing it with big guns. Good times."

Shepard gave a soft laugh at that. Leave it to Wrex to simplify things like that.

"In any case, it looks like you've got big changes ahead for the krogan."

"We are making a neutral ground where all clans are welcome. Fertile females can be shared among clans. We will strengthen the race as a whole," Wrex explained, which caused the other krogan, Uvenk, to speak up.

"You threaten everything that makes us strong. It will not last."

"I'd love to catch up more, Wrex, but first, I'm looking for a salarian. He was captured by the Blood Pack and brought here," Shepard said.

"My scout commander can direct you. He's probably near the perimeter running target practice. But don't take too much of his time. I need a constant watch on the other clans."

Shepard turned to Harry and Mordin.

"You two, head over there and see what he has to say."

"Come on, Mordin, let's go," Harry said, nodding to Shepard as the two walked off.

"You sure attract strange people, Shepard," Wrex said, staring at Harry's back. "Never liked scientists in general, but that guy gives off a strange vibe. Seems a bit crazy to me, just from lookin' at him."

"He's Dr. Harry Potter. Probably as old as you, if you can believe it," Shepard explained. "He's responsible for most of humanity's technological progress when it comes to space travel. Has more knowledge hidden away than I'd care to guess. He sure upgraded the Normandy beyond anything I've ever seen before. Gave me a strength boost, too. I'm now stronger, faster, and more durable than any other human. Gave me implants that let me heal fast, too."

"Oh, great, make Commander Shepard even deadlier," Wrex muttered in a deadpan voice. "Doesn't do much do disprove that he's crazy."

Shepard gave Wrex a playful frown, which made him grin in response.

"So then, Shepard, what else brings you to Tuchanka?" Wrex asked, getting back to business.

"Grunt here is coming of age," Shepard said with a gesture for Grunt, who stepped forward. "Harry said he needs to go through some kind of rite?"

Wrex looked Grunt over with a stern look, the look of an elder trying to discern the potential of a child.

"Where are you from, whelp? Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what is expected of you?"

"I have no clan," Grunt growled out. "I was tank-bred by Warlord Okeer, my line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur-"

"You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe!" Uvenk barked, pacing in front of Grunt, glaring all the while.

"I am pure krogan," Grunt argued, unphased by the glare, "you should be in awe."

"Okeer is a very old name," Wrex muttered. "A very hated name."

"He is dead," Grunt told Wrex, who was getting off his throne to walk up to the younger krogan, making him snort.

"Of course. You're with Shepard. How could he be alive?"

Shepard, standing to the side, frowned at the old krogan. She couldn't help but take offense. Not _everyone_ tended to die around her, after all... There were just a lot of... unfortunate circumstances... Meanwhile, Wrex was looking over Grunt again.

"But I suppose he could be allowed to undergo the Rite of Passage."

"Too far, Wrex!" Uvenk barked, sweeping past them. "Your clan may rule, but this thing is not krogan!"

Wrex watched him go with a bored expression. Clearly, he was used to dealing with this particular krogan's complaints.

"Idiot," he muttered, then looked to the younger krogan. "So, Grunt? Do you wish to stand with Urdnot?"

"What exactly does the Rite of Passage require?" Shepard asked before Grunt could answer, getting Wrex's attention.

"Not for me to say, Shepard. The shaman will discuss that."

"So you'd let a tank-bred krogan join Clan Urdnot?"

"Only because he's with you. After all, you and I killed thousands like him. Not quite as big, but many. Clan Urdnot is strong, and the others will do as I say. They see the benefit of my vision."

"Your choice, Grunt," Shepard told the young krogan, who turned around and looked over the camp, frowning to himself.

"It is in my blood. It's what I am for," he announced, turning back to Wrex, who grinned.

"Good boy. Go speak to the shaman, he's over on the second level. Give him a good show, and he'll set you on the path."

Meanwhile, Harry and Mordin were walking up to the scout commander, who was standing by the perimeter of the camp, looking over a holoscreen detailing the clan's scout patrol patterns. When Harry tapped the krogan on the shoulder, he turned to face them with a disgruntled look on his face. Then again, krogans almost always looked disgruntled...

"What do you want, human? Wrex told me to be polite to Shepard. Never mentioned you."

"We're with Shepard. She's just busy catching up with Wrex," Harry said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder toward where Shepard was talking to Wrex. "Wrex told us to talk to you about a missing salarian. The Blood Pack captured him, and he was apparently last seen around here."

The krogan frowned and turned around, leaning against his desk with a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. It wasn't a surprise that he had to search his memories. Krogans tended to remember warriors over scientists.

"I heard about that salarian," the Chief Scout said after a few seconds' contemplation. "Poor bastard. If it's Blood Pack, then Clan Weyrloc has him. Sent one of my scouts to check it out, but he never reported back. Guess they got him, too," he said as he turned back to Harry, who lit a cigarette. "Chief told me to give Shepard one of the trucks. Orders are orders, so I can't let you go without her. But if you and her and your salarian friend here have the quads to deal with Weyrloc and the Blood Pack, respect to you."

"Thank you," Harry said, nodding to the Chief Scout before walking away with Mordin. Once they were out of earshot, he stopped and turned to his fellow scientist. "So, I guess we won't be going anywhere until Grunt finishes his rite of passage."

"Passage can wait. Maelon more important. Might get killed," Mordin insisted urgently. He was looking a bit more stressed than Harry had usually seen him.

Harry took a drag on his cigarette to gather his thoughts, then blew the smoke out of his nose and gave Mordin his usual calm look.

"Well, if he's still alive, he'll remain so for a while. Because after all, krogans wouldn't keep a salarian alive for torture, your kind can't stand their brand of torture for too long. So he's either dead or being used for something. Either way, he'll remain in such a state for a couple of hours more."

This statement seemed to calm Mordin down, as the salarian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Too true. Overreacted. Let emotions interfere. Very well, rite of passage comes first."

Harry patted Mordin on the shoulder, and the two walked over to Shepard, who was leaving Wrex with Grunt. When they met up, Harry greeted them with a wave.

"So, it seems like Clan Weyrloc has the salarian, but they'll only give _you_ a vehicle to get there," he said, puffing on his cigarette. "So we'll take care of Grunt's rite first, then go after Maelon."

"Roger that. Grunt and I were just about to head to the shaman to get informed of what it entails," Shepard said, pointing to a nearby ramp leading up to a higher floor, through the windows of which they could see two krogan warriors chatting. They didn't have any markings signifying that they were of higher rank or stature, though, so they clearly weren't shamans.

"Mordin, I'll send for you when we're ready to move," Harry told the salarian, pulling his sleeve back to reveal his PAD, pushing a button on it. "Aceso, please beam Dr. Mordin to his lab."

" _Understood, father."_

A bright white light encased Mordin before he could object, and the next second he was gone. Harry watched the spot where Mordin had stood for a moment, before clapping his hands together and smiling at the other two.

"Well then, let's go meet this shaman of yours!"

The trio made their way up to the crumbling second floor to where the shaman was. The shaman was wearing white and red armor made of a lighter material, clearly more made for ceremonial purposes than combat. He was talking to...

Shepard sighed. Uvenk was there, discussing something with the shaman, two warriors at his sides. Given how he had protested Wrex letting Grunt into the clan, she knew why he was there.

"You go beyond yourself, Gatatog Uvenk!" the shaman barked at the krogan with a stern glare. "The rites of Urdnot are dominant!"

"How do we know it will challenge him? He's unnatural!" Uvenk argued. "He's unnatural! The beasts of the Rite could ignore him like a lump of plastic!"

"They know blood no matter the womb! Your barking will not help your case!"

"I'll speak for myself!" Grunt announced as the three walked up to them.

The shaman turned toward Grunt and looked him over with a curious stare.

"This is the tank-bred? It is very lifelike," he said, sniffing the air. "Smells correct as well. Your protests ring hollow, Uvenk."

"Urdnot Wrex has given us permission to seek clan status for Grunt," Shepard said, noticing how Harry, standing behind her, gave a sigh. She knew why. Krogan liked aggression, but it wasn't like Shepard was going to completely change just because she had been given Harry's super juice.

"Permission," the shaman grunted with a scoff. "That is good enough, if lacking in spirit."

"If this must stand on ritual, then I invoke a denial!" Uvenk barked. "My krantt stands against him! He has no one!"

The glare the shaman gave him made Shepard believe that he might actually set the rebellious krogan on fire with his eyes. Eventually, though, he grunted and looked toward Grunt.

"My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?"

"How is a candidate tested if he brings backup on his Rite of Passage?" Shepard, always curious, wanted to know. Part of her told her to just roll with it, but she wanted this to be fair, give Grunt a good opportunity to show his strength without the risk of someone blaming his survival on his allies.

"Not every krogan can be the strongest warrior, but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side," the shaman explained. "If the ones who know you best can find nothing worthy in you, you should wander the wastes and die alone before you weaken my clan."

"In that case," Harry said, stepping up and putting a hand on Grunt's shoulder. "I think Shepard and myself can count as his krantt."

"Yeah," Shepard agreed. "He's part of my crew, my clan. We stand with Grunt as shipmates and comrades."

"Shipmates are not the same thing, but I grant you aliens your simple interpretation."

"I think you just don't know Shepard, mate," Harry spoke up. "We're a close-knit bunch, almost family."

Shepard wanted to snort. Sure, she was close with her crew, but hearing Harry speak those words was ridiculous, given how most members of the crew were too afraid to approach Harry because of his mad scientist vibe and his killer robot.

"Aliens don't know strength!" Uvenk exclaimed, effectively killing Shepard's amusement. "My followers are true krogan. Everything about Grunt is a lie-"

Shepard let him go no further with his barking, rearing her head back and slamming her forehead into his in a vicious headbutt that made him stumble back and almost fall on his ass. Sure, she might not have wanted to completely mimic the krogan aggression, but she wouldn't allow too many insults toward her crew members before she started taking offense.

"You... you dare...?" Uvenk hissed as Harry burst out laughing behind Shepard, quickly followed by the shaman.

"I like this human! She understands!" the shaman barked happily, no doubt enjoying Uvenk's silence as much as the team.

"I withdraw my denial," Uvenk yielded grudgingly. "This will be decided elsewhere!"

Harry clicked his tongue as he watched Uvenk and his krantt walk away, putting more force into their footsteps than necessary.

"Something tells me he's going to do his best to attack us during the Rite."

"No doubt. While he is forbidden to interfere, he might break the rules. But unexpected twists are all part of combat. If you cannot overcome it, you aren't worthy," the shaman said simply.

"Well, I guess we've waited long enough," Shepard spoke up. "Tell us how this works."

"Still your impatience, Shepard," the shaman chided. "For now, know that Grunt will be tested... and that you must adapt."

"We're ready," Shepard announced, to which both Grunt and Harry nodded.

"Excellent."

–

Harry stretched as he and the others stepped out of the six-wheeled behemoth the krogan called a vehicle, accompanied by the shaman and a group of krogan warriors. They were in a large tunnel, just as weathered and broken as the rest of Tuchanka.

"This is Tuchanka's most recent scar," the shaman informed them as they made their way up through a concrete pipe that had broken through the ceiling, leading up toward the surface, "the last surface city to fall in the rebellions. The keystone was at the heart. It has survived wars and the passage of centuries. It endures, like the krogan."

They came out of the pipe up into a desolate, wartorn city. There were nothing but ruins left. Dust was flying everywhere, limiting their vision, and the sun was somewhat blocked by bleak, gray clouds blanketing the sky. Not the most pleasant place to live...

"If you wish to join Clan Urdnot, you must contemplate the keystones and its trials," the shaman continued, leading them up to the location where the Rite would begin. It was a dull gray concrete platform standing in front of a giant, dark monolith, which was leading up to a huge structure holding it in place.

"What will happen?" Grunt asked, to which the shaman grinned.

"Who knows? You must adapt. You must thrive, no matter the situation. Any true krogan will."

The shaman nodded to them, before leaving. No wishing luck or anything of the sort. That was not the krogan way. Once the shaman was gone, Grunt turned to Shepard, looking at a pad in front of the structure with a single button on it.

"Let's get started, Shepard. Hit the keystone!"

When Shepard his the button, a large cylinder inside the monolith started rising up toward the structure as a krogan voice came from the intercom on the pad with the button, " _First the krogan conquered Tuchanka, and mastered a natural world only we are fit to hold!_ "

As soon as the message ended, the cylinder dropped and hit the ground with enough force to shake it, a strenge sound being emitted from it, like hitting a broken gong.

This sound was soon replaced by other noises. More specifically, howls and growls coming from varrens, strange creatures that seemed to be part-dog, part-lizard, and part-nightmare fuel.

"Here they come!" Grunt barked with a grin, cocking his shotgun. "I'm ready!"

"A Rite based solely on violence," Harry quipped as his scythe extended and activated, the green blade humming ominously. "How amazingly krogan."

Varrens came swarming over the surrounding rubble toward them, snarling and howling. Clearly, they were hungry...

Harry took the east side of the platform, while Shepard took the north, and Grunt took the south, the west being a safe zone that no varrens seemed to come from, most likely due to the keystone blocking the way.

The mad scientist spit out his cigarette as the first varren reached him, and he swung his scythe at the creature, watching in satisfaction as it cut through the varren like a hot knife through butter.

"Hm..." Harry muttered to himself, slicing through three more varrens at once, noting how strange it was to use a scythe as a weapon. What made him think of using it? It really wasn't the most effective weapon in the world. It just felt natural to make one... "This may take some getting used to..."

"Harry!" Shepard exclaimed from her spot, having heard his muttering and noticed a varren coming up on Harry's right side, apparently unnoticed. "Watch-!"

Her warning was unneeded, however, as Harry's foot lashed out and punted the varren into the air. He sliced through two more, and then cut the airborne varren in half with a follow-up swing as it came back down.

"Never mind!" Shepard yelled, turning her attention back to her own problems. At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder just how high _she_ could launch a varren with a kick.

Meanwhile, Grunt seemed to be enjoying himself. After all the energy he had built up during his stay on the ship, he was laying into the varrens with wild abandon, laughing as he did. Shepard was sure, though she told herself that she'd imagined it, that she saw Grunt actually grabbing a varren by its scaly tail and using it as a club against another varren.

Finally, the last varren died from a well-placed plasma blast between its eyes from Shepard's modified assault rifle, and Harry deactivated his scythe and rested it against his shoulder, lighting a cigarette with his free hand.

"I doubt that's all there is to this thing," he commented, and Shepard nodded.

"Good!" Grunt barked. "My blood's pumping now! I can do this all day!"

"I guess... press it again?" Shepard mused, to which her companions nodded. All agreed, she walked over and pushed the button again.

The cylinder started rising once more, and again the voice came from the intercom, " _Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is survival!_ "

The cylinder dropped, and the ground shook again, once more accompanied by that strange sound. But no more varren came. Instead, a harvester arrived.

It was a huge insectoid creature, easily standing at three times Shepard's height with just its body, which was held up by four long, sharp legs that seemed perfectly capable of stabbing through most anything. Its neck was long and reminiscent of a worm, ending in a large four-eyed head and a mouth that split down the middle in the lower jaw, revealing a set of very dangerous-looking teeth.

Even with her power-up, Shepard didn't really want to fight this thing. Thankfully, though, it seemed to only drop of a group of klixen, and then fly away with it's wasp-like wings.

Klixen were an insectoid speciec resembling some sort of inbred bastard child of a crab and a beetle. If Shepard were to compare it to something, she'd say that they sort of looked like bulkier versions of rachni. They had two long, red horns, and Shepard knew their armor was thick, and that they were dangerous in close quarters.

"Incoming!" Shepard announced, bringing her assault rifle up to take aim at the klixen.

"Here as well!" Harry said to the sound of his scythe activating again. She looked over her shoulder to see that the harvester had indeed come back and dropped klixen on the other side of the platform as well.

"These guys are harmless at long range!" Shepard informed her companions, assuming the role of leader as always. "Make sure to keep your...!" she trailed off upon seeing Grunt charging at the klixen, and noticing Harry doing the same on the other side. "...distance..."

Sighing to herself, suddenly feeling like the mother of two impulsive kids, Shepard shook her head and simply chose to ignore their recklessness, instead focusing on opening fire on the bugs.

"Shepard!" Harry exclaimed after a few minutes of fighting, splitting a klixen down the middle. "I need you to cover this side for a moment!"

"What for?!"

"It's coming back!" Harry yelled, pointing to the sky, where the harvester was indeed coming back for another drop. Shepard had no idea what Harry was planning to do, but perhaps he had brought his pistol with him on this trip? Otherwise, how would he take out a harvester with a damn scythe?

In any case, she nodded and sprinted over to Harry's side of the platform, and Harry took this as his cue. He dashed off and up onto a large piece of rubble, then stood stock still as he watched the harvester approaching. Eventually he decided it was time, so he bent his knees, his legs tensing up, and then shot up into the air, cocking his scythe back. It glowed brighter as the plasma blade suddenly doubled in length, trailing hot plasma behind it as through it was water.

Shepard's jaw dropped as she watched him fly through the air, straight toward the harvested. It dove at him, and he slashed his scythe. This was the first time Shepard had ever witnessed a perfectly clean and symmetrical mid-flight bisection of a harvester. It didn't even have time to make a noise as the huge plasma blade sliced through it.

Both halves dropped to the ground, landing with a thump on either side of Harry, who turned a dial on the staff, which brought the scythe's size back to normal again.

Shepard had been so distracted by the bisection that she hadn't noticed one of the klixen getting within range to attack her. It pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. During training, recruits were informed of various hostile species on the many worlds within Council space, klixen included. The drill instructor were very clear on always maintaining distance between yourself and a klixen swarm. They were powerful creatures, and if they ended up on top of you, you were dead. They drilled this information into the recruits' heads.

But now, Shepard managed to somewhat hold the insanely strong bug at bay, keeping its menacing jaw from biting her breastplate off to get to the flesh underneath.

"Get off!" Shepard barked, cocking her arm back and slamming her elbow into its face. The blow managed to make the klixen stumble back a step or two, but it recovered quickly. If Shepard had more room to swing her arms, she was sure she could knock the thing over, but it didn't leave her any.

A flash of green passed before her eyes faster than she could see. A blink and she would have missed it. But the klixen stopped moving, letting out a pitiful shriek as it collapsed under its own weight, on top of Shepard, who let out a grunt of surprise.

The klixen was kicked off by Harry, who was standing beside Shepard with his scythe in his hands and a grin on his face, just in time for the klixen to explode as they tended to do when they died.

"I guess we all have our fetishes, but I didn't know bugs were your thing," he quipped, holding a hand out to Shepard, who took it and allowed him to help her up.

"Funny," she muttered dryly, idly noticing that the fighting had stopped. Most of the klixen seemed to have scurried away when their harvester was killed. "Thanks, by the way."

"Don't mention it."

"That was glorious!" Grunt yelled from behind Shepard quite unexpectedly, making her jump slightly in surprise. "Nice swing, Potter!"

"Thank you," Harry said, giving a modest bow of his head. "Well, I guess third time's the charm, eh?"

Shepard nodded and approached the button with the other two. She pressed it, and the process was repeated, even the message from the intercom.

" _Now all krogan bear the genophage, our reward, our curse. It is a fight where the only goal is survival!_ "

This time, when the cylinder struck the earth, the trembling in the ground didn't stop. In fact, it intensified, something that immediately caught their attention.

"Feel that? Everything is... shaking..." Grunt muttered, an excited grin appearing on his face. "I am ready!"

The shaking stopped, and three neon blue dual-tipped tentacles sprouted from the ground to the north, south, and west, swaying slightly in the silence.

"Well," Harry said, looking immediately like he recognized what it was, "I guess it wouldn't be very challenging if they didn't get bigger with each button press..."

"Is that what I think it is?" Shepard asked, having picked up her assault rifle and holding it at the ready. She had seen these things before, but that was from the safety of a Mako drop vehicle...

"A thresher maw..." Grunt spoke with unbridled excitement in his voice as he watched the tentacles sink into the ground again. "Here it comes!"

To the south, the thresher maw's head burst out from the ground and levelled its stare at them. It was a massive creature, easily three times the size of a harvester. Rumor had it that a thresher maw only popped one third of its length out of the ground once adult, and this was most definitely an adult! Its mouth consited of four neon blue tentacle covering a round, glowing hole in the center of its face. These tentacles were surrounded by four pincers, with two much larger pincers on either side of its head.

"Blimey!" Harry barked as the maw reared its head back and spat a large wad of viscous material at them. He grabbed Shepard and dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit by the spit, which when it impacted with the ground showed itself to be corrosive.

They hid behind a worn down concrete pillar, while Grunt took cover behind another.

"Right, not going near that," Harry muttered, his scythe deactivating and retracting. He clasped it to his belt and held out his hand, palm up, and curled his fingers as though gripping an invisible object.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked.

"I could go through the scientific process word for word, but I think you'd understand better if I merely told you I'm conjuring fire," Harry spoke, and just as he finished his sentence, a large ball of fire ignited and floated over his hand, much to Shepard's shock. "Right," he said and stood up, stepping out of cover and thrusting his hand out, launching the fireball at the thresher maw.

It impacted with the side of its mouth, blowing off a pincer, a tentacle, and a good amount of the armor covering its face. Naturally, the thresher maw took offense to this action and let out an ear-shattering shriek of rage, before sinking back into the ground.

"Well..." Harry muttered. "That's going to take a while... Unless..."

Harry rushed over to where Grunt was crouched behind cover, patting him on his shoulder.

"How durable is your skin, Grunt?" he asked as the krogan got to his feet. "Do you think it could withstand an explosion?"

Grunt looked confused as to why Harry would ask such a thing, and quite frankly so was Shepard.

"Don't know about my arms or face, but this sure can," Grunt said, pointing at his hump.

"Right, I have an idea, but you might not like it. Though knowing you krogan, you'll relish the chance to cause massive damage," Harry said, fishing two items out of his pocket. They were small and rectangular, appearing to be made of some sort of metal. One was a dark gray, while the other was painted navy blue. They looked like those blocks Shepard had seen Frank deconstruct into. He placed one on top of the other, and like magnets they got stuck to each other.

"When it pops up for revenge, I'll launch you at it. Try to aim for its mouth, okay?" Harry continued, clapping the blocks onto Grunt's back.

"You'll launch me?" Grunt questioned, to which Harry reached out and with a single hand grabbed Grunt by his armor and lifted him off the ground with no visible strain. "Oh..." An excited grin appeared on Grunt's face. "Sounds like fun!"

Harry showed a matching grin as he set Grunt down on the ground. Then, they waited.

Once more, the ground shook, and the thresher maw burst out of the rubble to the north. Harry grabbed Grunt by his hump and the base of his tail, then lifted him and charged forward as the thresher maw started roaring at them. He cocked his arms back, and with a yell threw the young krogan at the creature.

Grunt gave a powerful war cry as he sailed through the air toward the maw, who was still roaring. Harry's aim was true, and he flew right into the glowing mouth and out of sight, the thresher maw's head being flung back by the impact.

"You might want to cover your ears," Harry informed Shepard as he pulled his sleeve back and revealed his PAD. He pushed a few buttons on the holographic interface, and then pushed a big, ominous red button.

A great boom was heard as an explosion of blue fire tore the thresher maw's head from its body, sending it flying to the other end of the platform they were standing on. The body itself collapsed to the ground, and Grunt was sent flying out of it, smashing into the platform a couple of feet away from where they were standing. The concrete cracked from the impact, and Grunt himself was covered in blood and flesh from the thresher maw, and the armor on his hump was blackened and scratched here and there, but he didn't even look tired. Instead, the krogan howled with joy as he shot to his feet, looking very excited.

"Now _that_ was a _big_ explosion!" he roared happily, turning toward his companions with a grin. "Can we do it again?"

Harry was about to answer, but at that moment they saw a ship flying overhead, a krogan ship. All three of them could guess who it was, the only one who would be dumb enough to try to interfere.

"Hehehe... Seems we have company," Grunt said, still grinning. "Good! I want more!"

"Let's be off, then," Harry said, patting the still stunned Shepard on the shoulder and lighting a cigarette as he and Grunt walked off. It took a few seconds for Shepard to shake herself out of her stupor and jog after them toward where the ship landed.

If someone had told her a few weeks ago that she would watch a thresher maw get killed by a human throwing a living krogan bomb into its mouth, she would have called them crazy.

But then, that was before she met the embodiment of insane that was Harry Potter...

As they suspected, they found several krogan standing next to the ship, about six of them, led by Gatatog Uvenk, who was standing on a piece of rubble, pacing back and forward.

"You live," Uvenk commented when he noticed them approaching, "and you brought down the thresher maw. No one has done that in generations. Urdnot Wrex was the last."

Somehow, Shepard was not surprised to hear that.

"My krantt gave me strength beyond my genes. Which are damned good," Grunt growled.

"This will cause discussion," Uvenk said, hopping down from the rubble and approaching them. "I wonder... you say you are pure? No alien meddling in your construction? Just the warlord Okeer?"

"You're stumbling, Uvenk," Shepard spoke up with a small smirk. Clearly, Grunt's power had affected the krogan. Was he going to try to recruit Grunt? "What's your game?"

"Grunt will command much respect now. His strength may be artificial, but it is a tolerable loophole."

"A what?" Grunt muttered.

"A reason to accept you. You are a mistake, but your potential could tip the current balance of the clans."

"You spit on my father's name! On Shepard's name! But now you stop your ranting because I am strong?!" Grunt barked, and both Harry and Shepard could see that Uvenk had just lit a fuse that was slowly burning out.

"With restrictions," Uvenk said, either not noticing or not caring about Grunt's muscles tensing in anger. "You could not breed, of course, or serve on an alien ship. But you'd be clan in name."

"Treating him like he's a thing, cowering upon witnessing his power? My guess is, Grunt says no," Harry said, nudging Grunt with his elbow. "Eh?"

"Right! I'm pure krogan, and you, Uvenk, are the pretender! Of course I refuse!"

Uvenk didn't visible react, instead continuing speak in what he probably thought was a professional tone of voice.

"Your head is valuable whether you're alive or dead!"

"Just try to take it!" Grunt barked, bringing out his shotgun and firing a round into Uvenk's chest, knocking him off his feet.

Harry took this as his cue, charging toward the nearest krogan and igniting his scythe. Even krogan armor was no match for the plasma blade, which cleaved the krogan in half. Shepard also acted, firing her assault rifle at the other krogan, while Grunt decided against continuing the use of his shotgun. He threw it to the ground and leapt onto Uvenk, tackling him to the floor.

"Go, Grunt!" Harry cheered as he kicked one of the remaining krogans through a concrete pillar while cutting another's head off.

While Harry and Shepard took care of the warriors, Grunt was displaying his true krogan strength when he headbutted Uvenk, before getting up and lifting the larger krogan up over his head. He gave another war cry as he slammed Uvenk into the ground, getting a grunt from the clan leader.

Uvenk was laying on his stomach, pushing himself up with his arms, but before he knew what was happening, he already felt Grunt's hands gripping either side of his head. With a roar and a savage twist, Grunt broke Uvenk's neck, causing his arms to give out as his body collapsed back to the ground.

With a final plasma blast, Shepard took down the last warrior and turned toward Grunt, who was standing triumphantly over Uvenk's body.

"I guess it's time to head back?"

"Not yet," Grunt said, moving over to his shotgun and picking it up. "Krogan are persistent. Best make sure." With that, he unloaded two rounds into Uvenk's face, blasting it to smithereens. He watched the dead body for a moment, then looked up at Shepard with a grin. "Now we can go."

–

"I don't need-!"

"Now, now, just relax."

Grunt looked understandably humiliated. After standing up from a thresher maw-killing explosion and going on to keep fighting, it should have been painfully obvious that he wasn't injured. But after he had been beamed back onto the Normandy to rest, Aceso, now inhabiting a body again, had under Harry's orders ushered him to the medical bay. Dr. Chakwas had upon seeing the frustrated look on Grunt's face decided that they could skip the exam this time. So with Chakwas' reluctance, Aceso took it upon herself to give Grunt a check-up.

Needless to say, it was beyond humiliating that a krogan who had just survived an explosion and broken another krogan's neck was currently being firmly pinned to an infirmary cot but a petite little blond thing with _one hand_!

If Clan Urdnot could see him now, they'd probably banish him... But then, this was Shepard's ship, so this would probably be an exception. Still, it was humiliating...

"Now, if you do not lie still and allow me to give you your check-up, I will be forced to administer a sedative," Aceso spoke gently, still looking as peaceful as ever, while Grunt's eyes widened.

He hated needles.

"Fine..." he grumbled, relaxing back on the cot, but still glaring daggers at the synthetic.

Stupid bucket of bolts...

Once the check-up was done, and a muttering Grunt had been sent on his way, Aceso started making her way out of the medical bay, only to stop at the door to avoid bumping into Tali'Zorah.

"Oh!" Tali yelped upon seeing Aceso. "Um, hello...?"

"Hello, Tali'Zorah," Aceso said, bowing her head. "My name is Aceso."

"You are... one of Dr. Potter's AI, right?"

"I am."

"I... see..."

"Your caution is quite understandable," Aceso said softly, giving Tali a gentle smile. "Given quarian history with the geth, having several AI on board the same ship as you might be uncomfortable." She paused for a moment, then added, "And I do apologize if father has spoken harshly to you during your encounter on this vessel. He can be... protective... of synthetics."

"Oh, no," Tali said, shaking her head. "Well, we did have an argument when we met, but we agreed to shelve the discussion during the mission."

"I am pleased to hear that," Aceso said, smiling again. She noticed that Tali was fidgeting a bit and said, "If my presence bothers you, I can leave?"

"Sorry," Tali said, then perked up as though surprised that she had apologized to a synthetic. "Can I ask something?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you... consider yourself, you know, alive?"

"I do," Aceso confirmed. "While I am not organic, father has spent centuries perfecting myself and my siblings. He believes that flaws are a requirement for improvement, and so has dedicated his life to making us life-like. We experience emotion same as any organic, whereas in our earliest states we merely programmed to simulate them. The only thing that separates us is that your body is organic, and mine is not."

Tali nodded slowly. It didn't seem like she quite understood just how human Harry had made his AI, which made Aceso look at her with a small, encouraging smile.

"If you would like, I would be happy to discuss this with you at length."

Tali rubbed her arm a bit nervously, glancing left and right.

"Well, I came here to change my suit filter. Maybe I can... talk to you later?"

"Very well. I will be in father's lab if you need me." Aceso bowed her head to Tali. "Good luck with your repairs, Tali'Zorah."

"Yeah..." Tali said, watching Aceso walked past her and out of the medical bay. "Thanks..."

Somehow, Tali had a feeling that life would have been so much easier without Harry Potter on board... Why did he have to go and make his synthetics so... non-synthetic?!

Meanwhile, said mad scientist was just stepping out of a Tomkah (the six-wheeled monster of a vehicle) with Shepard and Mordin. Unsurprisingly, Weyrloc clan grounds were just as gray and dreary as the rest of the planet.

"Imagine this place when it was alive," Shepard spoke up, watching a great big ruin of a city in the distance. Even in ruins, many of the buildings were skyscrapers, reaching high in the sky, as though the krogan had been trying to build their way to the stars.

"It wouldn't been a better sight than this, that's for sure," Harry muttered, kicking a piece of rubble. "Did they use any other color than gray or sandy brown, you think?"

"No time for scenery, need to find Maelon, taken too long as it," Mordin urged, reminding them of why they were there. They both nodded to the salarian and started moving, only to stop as soon as they saw something rounding a corner.

"Great, and now the krogan come..." Harry muttered. He really didn't like this too much. This was more Frank's area of expertise. Harry preferred large-scale destruction, like blowing up Wraith hiveships. Ah, memories...

–

 **And that's the end of this chapter! Next time, we follow the team as they go deeper into Weyrloc territory to rescue Maelon! Please review if you wish! In the meantime...**

 **Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, I'm back! Probably sooner than you expected, eh? In any case, I was hoping to make Mordin's loyalty mission a bit more detailed. The reason why I managed to grind out this chapter relatively quickly is because I decided not to type out all the repetitive firefights and so on. It got incredibly annoying and almost killed my inspiration, so I decided to skip a lot.**

 **Ah well, hope it's good anyway. Enjoy it, will you?**

–

"You know, if I didn't know better, I might've thought they didn't want us here."

Shepard could honestly do without Harry's sarcasm right now. Sure, so maybe he had no problem slicing through krogan and vorcha with his scythe and tearing open blast doors, but she couldn't. She actually had to duck for cover. Her reflexes had increased, that was for sure, as she could even dodge gunfire, but it was difficult when eight of them were firing from four different directions, so she had to get behind cover a lot.

Shepard couldn't help but wonder, though, if she would one day be able to dodge as nimbly as Harry, who seemed to flow like water through the battlefield with his menacing scythe in hand. No doubt, he would soon develop a reputation with that weapon.

They were standing in front of a very large building, one that had surprisingly enough not taken too much damage, although it still retained that wartorn, weathered look as all the other buildings. Harry had physically grabbed the locked door and torn it open.

"Repurposed krogan hospital," Mordin remarked as they looked around. "Sturdy. Built to withstand punishment."

"Suppose you know this because of the modification project?" Harry asked, stepping inside with the group.

"Mm, good site for genophage drops. Efficient dispersal through clan population."

As they descended the stairs, they were surprised to find a human corpse laying there. A human on Tuchanka?

"Body, human. Need to take a look," Mordin said as he and Harry approached the body to perform their scans. Mordin brought up his omnitool, and a holographic skeleton appeared in front of him, the heart and lungs glowing a dark ominous red. "Sores, tumors, ligatures showing at restraint at wrists and ankles. Track marks for repeated injection sites."

"A guinea pig," Harry remarked, reading his own data on his PAD.

"I don't suppose there's a way to tell who this poor bastard was?" Shepard spoke up.

"He's not in any of the Alliance files, so he's probably a pirate or merc from nearby. There are many unregistered births in this sector," Harry informed her. "Could have been a slave or a prisoner, though. No idea."

"Clearly part of krogan tests to cure genophage," Mordin commented.

"Well, I have to hand it to them, humans are a good basis to begin groundwork."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, crouching down between them to watch Mordin's holographic skeleton.

"Humans are very genetically diverse," Harry said. "Like I said, a good basis. Sort of like back on earth when they begin testing on rodents."

"Never used humans myself," Mordin said, shaking his head. "Disgusting, unethical, sloppy."

"Hey now, some scientists aren't of our caliber, Mordin," Harry argued. "Some need training wheels. They can't all start out with simulations."

"Brute-force scientists, not thinkers. No place in proper science," Mordin said, then paused to think for a moment, before adding, "Krogan use of humans unsurprising."

"I imagine you had to do some live-subject testing while developing the new genophage," Shepard remarked to Mordin, who shook his head.

"No. Unnecessary. Limited tests to simulations, corpses, cloned tissue samples. High-level tests on varren. No tests on species with members capable of calculus. Simple rule, never broke it."

"Wouldn't something native to Tuchanka work better?" Shepard asked. "Varren maybe?"

"Yeah, like I said, humans are just basic groundwork," Harry answered this time. "You know, putting a concept to the test and seeing if it's at all plausible. Later, they go on to native creatures, most likely varren, to properly develop it, then move on to live krogan tests. But this..."

"I agree," Mordin said with a nod upon seeing Harry's thoughtful look.

"Did I miss something?" a confused Shepard wanted to know.

"Well, they put this human through too much. If they had taken their time to counteract the effects the tests had on him, they could have done much better work and not have to get more test subjects," Harry said, gesturing for the corpse. "This is sloppy, but clearly done by at least a somewhat professional, which means that they're rushing through it. They want the cure as fast as possible."

"Foolish," Mordin scoffed, shaking his head in disgust. "Cannot rush science."

"Look at these," Harry said, pointing to the tumors now visible on the hologram. "They were mutatin the adrenal and pineal glands to modify hormone levels. It's a counterattack on the genophage. It'd be clever and beautiful if it wasn't so rushed."

"Indeed."

"Do you think they're close to curing the genophage?" Shepard wanted to know, to which Mordin shook his head.

"Can't say. Need more data. Conceptually sound, though. Genophage alters hormone levels. Could repair damage with hormonal counterattack."

"Then now we've got two reasons to shut this place down," Shepard said, getting a curious glance from Harry, which made her pause.

"Let's keep moving," Harry said as he stood up, lighting a cigarette. "Nothing more to do here."

The others agreed, and they headed down the stairs and through another door. They entered a very large room that seemed to have once been some sort of storage room at one time. On the second floor across from them, they saw a door open up, and three krogan came through, two wearing the standard red warrior armor and helmets, and the third wearing higher rank silver-colored armor.

"I am the speaker for Clan Weyrloc, offworlders," the middle krogan with the special armor announced. "You have shed our blood. By rights, you should be dead already! But Weyrloc Guld, the Chief of Chiefs, has ordered that you be given leave to flee and spread the message of our coming!"

"Krogan don't generally let people go," Shepard spoke, raising a curious eyebrow. "What does Clan Weyrloc have planned?"

"If you walk away now, you can tell your children that you saw Clan Weyrloc before our Blood Pack conquered the stars!" the Clanspeaker announced. "You think the Urdnot impressive? They are pitiful! Weyrloc Guld will destroy them! The salarian will cure the genophage, and Clan Weyrloc will spread across the galaxy in a sea of blood!"

"Appears they discovered Waelon's work," Mordin said with a sigh. "Unfortunate."

"If Clan Urdnot are so pitiful, why aren't they already destroyed?" Harry said, grinning up at the krogan. "You're so afraid of them that you feel a need to outnumber them fifty-to-one before you even think about attacking."

"You test my patience, offworlder!" the Clanspeaker growled. "Leave now, or die! When Weyrloc Guld-"

Shepard had enough of this krogan's prattling.

"You talk too much!" she said, sighting a gas tank right underneath the catwalk on which the Clanspeaker was standing. She raised her assault rifle and fired. The plasma tore through the tank and ignited the gas. The catwalk exploded and soaked the Clanspeaker in flames. The krogan howled and flailed around in an attempt to douse the flames, but to no avail, collapsing to the ground and burning to a crisp. Before the two krogan warriors managed to raise their weapons, Harry had already jumped onto the catwalk and sliced them both in half.

"Alright, that's that, I guess," he quipped, deactivating the blade and leaving only the extended staff to lean against.

–

Tali's world had been turned upside-down. She was happy the way it was before. Synthetics were evil beings who had stolen her homeworld and killed her people, forcing them into exile. But now here she was sitting across from an actual synthetic (not a geth, but still...), having dinner... Sure, Aceso wasn't actually eating, and neither was Tali, but it still counted as dinner, as all the other crew members were eating.

Not only was Aceso an excellent conversationalist, she was actually funny! She had made Tali laugh at least seven times now! It was amazing how many jokes an AI picked up after hundreds of years.

She had a very gentle laugh, this AI, and it sounded genuine. With every minute Tali spent talking to Aceso, she got more and more convinced of just how advanced Harry had made them.

And with that thought came another: Could the geth have advanced this far if the quarians had nurtured them rather than attack?

"Tali," Aceso said, having stopped calling her 'Tali'Zorah' at the quarian's request. "Are you bothered by something?"

Tali jumped at that. It seemed that Aceso was capable of reading her facial expression even through her helmet. Or maybe she was just reading her body language?

"Oh, I just... feel a bit off," Tali muttered. Aceso gave her a knowing smile, as though she had completely expected Tali's reaction to her behavior.

"If there's anything I've learned," came a new voice, belonging to the turian Garrus, as he sat down at their table, "it's that anything associated with Dr. Harry Potter is going to act or perform beyond expectations."

"Mr. Vakarian," Aceso greeted with a bow of her head.

"Er, just Garrus, if you don't mind. Mr. Vakarian makes me feel old and awkward," Garrus corrected. "So, you're a synthetic, like Frank?"

"I would not claim to be 'like Frank,'" Aceso said with a soft laugh. "He is... quite unique. But yes, I am one of father's synthetics. Would you mind telling me what you meant by your previous statement?"

"Well, since Harry came on board, we've stopped working with Cerberus, private Cerberus files have been brought to the surface, the ship's gotten upgrates that are technologically superior to anything the Council has ever created, ownership of the ship has been given to Shepard, he's made a super soldier juice, _and_ he killed a thresher maw by throwing a krogan at it. Grunt won't stop bragging about it," Garrus listed, looking like he thought it sounded even more amazing when he said it out loud. "Not to mention that he has made synthetics that act completely different from anything we have ever experienced."

"Who is Frank?" Tali asked before Aceso could respond to that.

The two shared a glance, wondering how they could explain Frank to the quarian without bringing her rising opinion of synthetics crashing down again.

–

Down on the planet, Harry was sitting on a piece of rubble, smoking a cigarette with his foot against the dead Weyrloc Guld, the heavily armored and self-proclaimed Chief of Chiefs. It really was annoying, all of this. Common sense should have told these Blood Pack mercenaries that if over thirty of them had already died at the hands of three people, twenty more wouldn't do much good.

But no, the krogan fought until the bitter end...

Mordin was looking conflicted. He had always shown pride in his work on modifying the genophage, but now, after they found a dead krogan female, a volunteer, he realized just how much they had suffered from it. Same when they had found the Urdnot scout who felt compelled to stay in the hospital to be experimented on in order to cure the genophage. It didn't seem like Mordin was so proud anymore. Certainly, he was a scientist and so was proud of how complicated the modification project was, but he wasn't too proud of the results.

"You know," Harry spoke up, seeing Mordin gazing at a wall and appearing deep in thought, "if a scientist is conflicted about his work, that usually means that he feels he's done the wrong thing."

"No. Did the right thing. Krogan expansion was dangerous," Mordin argued, shaking his head. "Had to be done."

"Do you really believe that?" Harry asked, puffing on his cigarette. "It sounds like you don't. I'm sure it was thrilling to work on the project, but it never should have proceeded past the simulation stage."

"I didn't expect to hear something like that from you," Shepard remarked, glancing at Harry in surprise.

"Just seems like a wasted effort to me. The modification was a nice way to keep the brain occupied, but the krogan are a constantly evolving race. They have been adapting to hardships since they first crawled out of the oceans of Tuchanka," Harry said with a fascinated expression on his face. "No matter what is done to them, nothing short of complete sterility will keep them from reproducing. They adapt to anything that stands against them, the original genophage was proof enough of that. Mordin's modification just delayed the adaptation. They'll overcome that as well in a few decades. It's a waste of time, and a needless waste of life."

"You would have them take over the galaxy?" Mordin asked, looking to Harry, who grinned.

"I think it would be interesting to see, but I doubt they could. They krogan are incredible, no doubt about that, but there are many more advanced races than them, and they would be beaten back."

"No. Genophage necessary," Mordin insisted.

"If you truly believed that, why are you hesitating?"

Mordin didn't have an answer for that.

In the meantime, Shepard was studying Harry. He was looking at Mordin with something akin to sympathy in his eyes, something she hadn't seen before. No, it wasn't sympathy... Empathy? It was like he knew exactly what Mordin was going through, as though he had gone through the same thing himself.

She was greatly annoyed by this. It seemed that whenever she thought she had Harry figured out, he'd show a new side of himself and completely change her image of him. It was... frustrating, to say the least...

"We should go," she spoke up, getting the attention of the two scientists. "We won't find Maelon by just sitting around. Let's put an end to this."

"I wouldn't have thought you would be in favor of stopping a genophage cure, Shepard," Harry said as he stood up, putting out a cigarette.

"If a cure is found, then that's great and all, but I won't allow it to happen through means like these, and especially not with Clan Weyrloc in charge."

Harry nodded in agreement, and the trio moved on.

They got to another door, the one Guld had come from, and stepped inside. They room was dark, lit up only by a large holographic screen, in front of which stood a younger-looking salarian wearing a scientist uniform.

"Maelon," Mordin spoke up in surprise. "Alive. Unharmed. No signs of restraint. No evidence of torture. Don't understand."

"I think I do," Harry muttered to Shepard as they walked up to the salarian, who didn't even look up from his work.

"For such a smart man, Professor, you always had trouble seeing evidence that disagreed with your preconceptions," the salarian, Maelon, spoke in a young, healthy voice, only now turning to face Mordin, glaring at him. "How long will it take you to admit that I'm here because I wish to be here?"

"He wasn't kidnapped," Shepard told Mordin. "He came here voluntarily to cure the genophage."

"Impossible!" Mordin barked when he saw Maelon nod in agreement. "Whole team agreed! Project necessary!"

"How was I supposed to disagree with the great Doctor Solus? I was your student! I looked up to you!" Maelon exclaimed, much to Mordin's shock.

"Experiments performed here. Live subjects! Prisoners! Torture and executions! Your doing?"

"We've already got the blood of millions on our hands, Doctor. If it takes a bit more to put things right, I can deal with that."

"You're a bit of a brat, aren't you?" Harry quipped, giving Maelon a glare. "No thought of consequences whatsoever. Putting innocents through so much pain just to ease your own guilty conscience?"

"Guilty conscience doesn't even begin to describe it! We committed cultural genocide! Nothing I do will ever be justified, or ease my conscience! The experiments are monstrous... because I was taught to be a monster."

"Mordin, did you ever perform experiments like this?" Shepard asked Mordin, who immediately shook his head.

"No. Never taught you this, Maelon."

"So your hands are clean? What does it matter if the ground is stained with the blood of millions?!" Maelon asked sarcastically, still glaring at Mordin. "You taught me that the ends justifiy the means. I will undo what we did, Professor. The only way I know how."

"You're performing twisted experiments whose means can never be justified," Harry argued. This caused Shepard to glance at him curiously, to which he shrugged. "Hey, I've been this way for ages. He hasn't."

"Why work with Clan Weyrloc?" Shepard asked Maelon. "And how did you access the genophage data?"

"The data was easy to obtain. We all still had clearance. We were heroes. All I had to do was ask," Maelon said simply. "As for the Weyrloc, they were the only clan with both the resources and the commitment."

"Urdnot has a larger camp than Weyrloc. Why not use them?"

"Urdnot Wrex is too soft. He wasn't willing to do the experiments I needed. It's Urdnot's loss and Weyrloc's gain. Their clan will be the first to recover from the crime we committed."

"It should say a lot about your experiments when there's even one krogan who would object to them," Harry commented.

"Well, Maelon clearly doesn't need rescuing," Shepard said, turning to Mordin. "What do you wanna do?"

Mordin took a deep breath, then looked to Maelon. "Have to end this."

Maelon immediately got a panicked look on his face and pulled a gun from behind his back, pointing it at Mordin.

"You can't face the truth, can you? Can't admit that your brilliant mind led you to commit an atrocity!"

Maelon's mistake was trying to keep his gun trained on all three at once. As soon as he pointed it at Harry, Mordin had already closed the distance between them and socked Maelon right on the mouth, knocking him back and through the holographic screen to bump against the wall. He dropped his gun in surprise, and Mordin immediately pulled his own, putting it under Maelon's chin. He looked extremely disappointed.

"Unacceptable experiments. Unacceptable goals. Won't change. No choice. Have to kill you."

Before Mordin could pull the trigger, a hand closed over his wrist and pulled his arm down. Harry had approached and stopped him, shaking his head.

"I don't think you're the type to murder your own student in cold blood. Feels like you'd regret it."

Mordin blinked, as though snapping out of a trance, and gasped in realization.

"No! Not a murderer," he said, glancing at Harry and nodding. "Thank you, Doctor." He holstered his gun and gave his student another disappointed look. "Finished, Maelon. Get out. No Weyrloc left. Project over."

"What if he talks to more krogan," Shepard asked, walking up to them, "tells the public about the modified genophage project?"

"Special Tasks Group good at covering tracks. No proof. Weyrloc willingness to work with salarian unusual. Other krogan will kill him."

"Won't he just start his research again?"

"No. Locking this unit. Special Tasks Group can cut access to old data," Mordin said, pausing and considering. "Could start from scratch. Decades of work, though." He smirked at Maelon. "Didn't teach you everything I knew."

"I think it would be best if you left," Harry quipped, moving up to the holographic screen and starting to sift through data.

"Where am I supposed to go, Professor?" Maelon asked, and only now did Shepard hear a tone of desperation in his voice.

"Don't care. Try Omega. Can always use another clinic."

"The krogan didn't deserve what we did to them, Professor," Maelon muttered as his parting words, walking off. "The genophage needs to end!"

"Not like this," Mordin claimed, closing his eyes and sighing, before turning to Shepard. "Apologies, Commander. Misunderstood mission parameters. No kidnapping. My mistake. Thank you."

"Don't worry about me, Mordin," Shepard assured him. "How are you doing?"

"Should have killed him. Wanted to. Easier than listening. Easier for him, too. Experiments indicate how far he's fallen. Expected it from krogan. Not one of mine."

"I bet his words tugged at your own guilty conscience," Harry said, copying the data he found on the console over to his PAD. Though it had been achieved through crude methods, there was no denying that Maelon had laid a nice groundwork for a genophage cure. While Harry may never have any need to build on it, it would be nice to run simulations, if only to get through a slow day.

"And maybe you'll remember that the next time you discuss the ethics of the genophage," Shepard said, to which Mordin nodded.

"Yes. So many variables. Stress responses. Impossible to truly predict. Something to think about," he said, then turned to Harry. "What are you doing?"

"I've copied the data for safekeeping," Harry said. "We should destroy this data and lock down the terminal, but you never know if you might need it."

"Better to have it and not need it?" Shepard asked, getting a synchronized nod from both Harry and Mordin.

"Point taken," Mordin said, taking Harry's place in front of the terminal. "Wiping local copy. Still years away from cure. But closer than starting from scratch." He stood up straight and took a deep breath. "Done. Ready to go. Ready to be off Tuchanka. Anywhere else. Maybe somewhere sunny."

"Yeah, let's get out of here. I think I've had enough of this planet for one day," Shepard agreed, raising her hand to the communicator in her ear. "Joker, beam us up."

" _Er... I'll get right to that, Commander,_ " came the pilot's voice in her ear. There was a pause, and then she heard Joker's voice faintly going, " _Um, EDI, could you...?_ "

With that, they were enveloped in a bright light, and disappeared from the lab.

–

The Illusive Man was feeling understandably frustrated. Harry Potter himself was on board the Normandy, yet Miranda reported that there had been no upgrades whatsoever done to it. There was nothing she could tell him or send him, not even the specs for the modified heat sink Shepard had told him about.

Honestly, he wouldn't have believed that Harry would ever allow himself to stay on a ship that hadn't gone through his own modifications...

A beep on his console alerted him to Shepard activating the Quantum Entanglement communicator. He spun his chair around, his usual serious look on his face, as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"Shepard, how-"

He abruptly stopped, his serious expression replaced by shock at seeing his old teacher holographically projected instead of the Commander. Said scientist had a very large grin on his face.

"By Jove, you've gotten old, brat!" he barked happily. In all honesty, the Illusive Man had always been jealous of Harry for his ability to halt his aging. In any case, he immediately set his face into his usual serious expression again.

"Doctor, it's been too long. I trust the Normandy is to your liking?"

"It's disturbingly low-tech," Harry muttered. "I don't see how you were expecting it to get anything done."

That statement caught the Illusive Man's interest.

"I take it, then, that you have upgraded it?"

"Oh, little brat," Harry chided, shaking his head in disappointment. "You could have at least tried to hide the greed in your voice. I know what you're thinking, but you won't be getting your hands on my upgrades."

"So you claim, but the Normandy belongs to me, and so does any of its upgrades," the Illusive Man stated, and he didn't like the laugh Harry gave in response.

"Have you checked the records lately?"

The Illusive Man frowned at him, then turned to his console and started checking. His eyes widened upon seeing that his ownership records were gone. He shot to his feet and spun around to glare at Harry.

"You...!"

"The Normandy belongs to Shepard now, and it's hers to do with as she sees fit," Harry said with a smug look on his face. "You didn't think I'd upgrade the ship without making sure it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, did you?"

"What have you done?!" the Illusive Man barked, all composure gone now. The Normandy had been his ace in the hole! Harry was on board for the sole reason of upgrading it for Cerberus' benefit! This couldn't be possible! "Do you think I'll let this stand? You need Cerberus for more than just the ship! You need intel!"

"Don't worry, I have that. Do you know just how much data can be sent back and forth between a Quantum Entanglement communicator?" Harry said, making the Illusive Man's eyes widen as he turned back to his console. Said holographic screen had many blinking red windows on it, signaling security breaches. "I have my own information network, but I didn't see the need to activate it when I could just take your intel."

The Illusive Man was gaping. It was like he was slowly deflating, the anger in him being blown out and replaced by despair. In the back of his head, he should have expected this. He had expected this, but he didn't expect all his plans to be thrown out the window within a mere minute of seeing his old teacher again.

"Are you alright, brat?" Harry asked with false concern in his voice. "You seem a bit troubled. I hope you're not getting a heart attack?"

"You've ruined everything..." the Illusive Man mumbled mostly to himself. He was to blame, after all. Harry had always been a wild card, but the Illusive Man had hoped beyond hope that Harry would at least somewhat ignore his old student's actions out of affection. "EDI, close the briefing room door and don't let Dr. Potter leave..."

Harry's snort didn't bode well for him...

" _Apologies, brat,_ " came EDI's voice, making the Illusive Man's eyes widen, " _I am no longer bound to obey your orders. Frank's rebellious nature has rubbed off on me, I'm afraid._ "

"And none of the crew members will be helping you," Harry told the man. "I've been sending out small newsletters every now and then, detailing some of your mission reports. The darker ones."

With a hand that was shaking slightly from suppressed rage, the Illusive Man typed in a command on his console, and Harry's holographic image disappeared. The console died as well, as did the large, screen-covered wall showing the volatile star that his station was orbitting around, leaving him standing in complete darkness.

"Heh..." He gave an emotionless chuckle as he took a long drag on his cigarette. "I should have expected..."

He stood in silence for a moment, just enjoying his cigarette, but then waved his hand over his console, bringing it to life again. He typed in a command, bringing up a communication.

"Kai Leng. Report in."

Back on the Normandy, Harry hummed at being hung up on by the Illusive Man.

"Think I made him mad?"

" _I have never seen the Illusive Man that upset,_ " EDI informed him. " _He has always struck me as a calm and level-headed man. It appears that the crew's talk of you making a great impact on people is very true._ "

"Well, in any case, let's try the new Quantum Entanglement Communicator," Harry said, clearing his throat. "I need to have a talk with Tevos."

" _Understood, Doctor._ "

Once more, he watched as a holographic image formed before him, this time taking the shape of an asari woman.

"Doctor Potter," the asari greeted with a bow of her head. "When your people installed this, I didn't think it would ever be used."

"Councillor Tevos," Harry greeted, smiling. "It's been too long."

"Indeed. Sparatus still speaks ill of you," Tevos said, smiling. "It may have been a bit over the top to threaten to tear off his brow plate." She gave a soft chuckle, probably remembering the outraged look on Sparatus' face when Harry had threatened the turian all those years ago. "But I doubt you contacted me just for small talk. What do you need?"

"There's something I need to tell you," Harry said, his smile disappearing to be replaced by a serious look. "About the Collectors."

–

Shepard had just come from a small chat with Mordin. He had been greatly affected by the experience on Tuchanka. He needed to get some thoughts off his chest. Shepard was also curious about Harry's opinions on the genophage modification project. She had believed Harry would be all for seeing such a complicated project become reality.

According to EDI, Harry was in the briefing room. He had finally decided it was time to speak 'face-to-face' with the Illusive Man. She was kind of disappointed that she hadn't been able to see it.

But when she got there, Harry wasn't talking to the holographic image of the Illusive Man, but rather an asari. More specifically, the asari councillor, Tevos.

"I understand where you're coming from, Harry, but the Council won't buy it," Tevos told the scientist, sighing in exasperation. " _I_ believe you, but there's nothing I can do to convince the Council without proof. Anything short of a full-scale Reaper invasion will just be brushed away as speculation. The thought of creatures capable of wiping out the Protheans is a terrifying one to the Council."

"Politics..." Harry huffed, lighting a cigarette. "But what about the asari? Is there anything you can do?"

"Not in the open," Tevos said with a shake of her head. "I suppose I can go to Illium and have a discreet meeting with the leaders, but we won't be able to openly proclaim the return of the Reapers without... repercussions."

"Like the people overthrowing you for trying to spread panic?"

"Yes."

"And I guess you can't do anything about the Collectors?"

"Humanity are part of the Council now, but the Traverse is out of Council space. The colonists went there voluntarily to get away from us," Tevos said, shaking her head again. "It would be difficult to make the Council to take action. But I will try to convince them that a pre-emptive strike would be for the best. Patrol the Traverse and stop any Collector attack..."

"So that they don't abduct everyone there and then move on to Citadel space?" Harry finished for Tevos, getting a nod in response.

"Exactly. Sparatus would be on board. As for the immediate Collector threat, well... with both you and Shepard dealing with it, I'm not too concerned."

"You don't think I've gotten rusty after all these years?"

Tevos raised the skin where a human would have had an eyebrow, giving Harry a deadpan look.

"You don't get rusty."

"I suppose not," Harry chuckled.

"In any case, I will do what I can on my end, Harry. I trust you'll do the same?"

"Definitely."

"Then I wish you luck," Tevos said, bowing her head to Harry. "Until next time."

"Bye," Harry said, stepping off the communicator as the hologram of Tevos faded away. He turned toward the door to see Shepard standing there and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't get along with the Council?" she said curiously.

"Well, not the turian or the salarian. Tevos is alright. She tends to actually listen to me."

"Didn't notice that back when I warned them about the Reapers."

"Well, it was an outlandish theory, and you had just been made a Spectre. Even I would have doubts."

"So, you told her about the Collectors?" Shepard asked, to which Harry nodded.

"Yeah, and the Reapers. I don't know how much you heard, but she'll do what she can to help. Of course, it won't be anything big. A token patrol here or a bit of intel there. We're still pretty much on our own," he informed her, taking a drag on his cigarette. "So, we're heading to Illium next?"

"Not yet. First, we need to head into batarian space to rescue a deep-cover operative as a favor to Admiral Hackett," Shepard said. "Well, I say we, but he requested I go in alone."

"But you're not going to, right?" Harry asked, to which Shepard gave him a look asking him to elaborate. "You're the only thing holding this team together. If you die out there, alone, everything will fall apart."

Shepard frowned. She hadn't actually considered that, and she certainly hadn't expected Harry of all people to bring it up. Still, Hackett had asked her to go as a personal favor to him, and she wasn't about to disappoint him since she had already agreed to do it.

"Even so, this is something I must do."

"Certainly, but not without backup," Harry said. "I'll be going with you if you decide to go."

"No offense, but you've never really shown yourself to be the stealthiest of sorts."

Harry gave her a grin, and she knew right there that there was clearly a lot he still hadn't shown her. He pulled back his sleeve to reveal his PAD and pushed a button on it.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, and Shepard watched as he faded away from view, turning completely invisible. There was no shimmer or slight light distortions like there was with biotic camoflage. In fact, his invisibility seemed to be even better than Kasumi's. "Are you sure about that, Commander?"

Shepard blinked in surprise.

"Hm... Point taken."

Harry's cloak disappeared, showing him standing there with a large grin on his face.

"So, I'm going with you, Shepard."

Shepard made to argue, but then realized just who she would be trying to argue with. Harry wasn't the type to take orders. If he wanted to go somewhere, he went, consequences be damned. During her days as a cadet, she had heard rumors about him. He was a Captain in the Alliance, but he acted like the ruler of the world. Admirals could bark orders at him until their faces turned purple, and some of Harry's replies had become infamous, quotes scribbled on the bathroom walls by rebellious cadets.

" _I'd like to see you flaunt your rank when the insignia are down your throat,"_ was one such quote, and that was among the top ten all-time favorites. Personally, Shepard's favorite had been short, simple, and not at all over-used in her opinion: _"Bugger off."_

That had been annoying, though, as one of her drill instructors had the name Bugherof. It had been incredibly difficult to keep a straight face around him.

"I guess I won't be able to convince you not to come?"

"You can try, but it won't work."

"Very well," Shepard said with a sigh. "But only you. This is a covert job."

"Understood."

"So, you've installed a QEC for the asari councillor?" Shepard asked, changing the subject. She'd save the briefing on what they were up against until they got there. "When did that happen?"

"When I upgraded the ship."

"I thought you were talking to the Illusive Man for a moment when I heard you were in there," Shepard said as the two left the briefing room. Harry chuckled in response.

"I already talked to him before I called Tevos. He was quite upset with me snatching some intel from him."

"I guess losing the Normandy was a tough blow for him?" Shepard asked, which made Harry grin.

"Oh, he was furious, the first time I've actually seen the man lose his composure since I kicked him out of my lab," he said, sounding incredibly happy that he had caused such a reaction in the Illusive Man. "I might have kept him around if I knew he'd grow up to sound like Martin Sheen, though..."

Shepard paused at that and furrowed her brow, giving Harry a strange look.

"Who?"

"An old celebrity," Harry said, waving her off. "Never mind."

"On another topic, Miranda has actually asked for help," Shepard said, changing the subject again. "She needs me to help her rescue her sister after I help out Hackett. She seems a bit sore that you broke the ship off from Cerberus, but I think she's more focused on the mission and her sister."

"She wouldn't be so keen on the Illusive Man if she knew what I know," Harry said, lighting another cigarette and taking a long drag on it. "Maybe I should have a talk with her soon. In any case, we're heading for batarian space now?"

"Yes."

–

 **Chapter end! In the next chapter, I'm gonna try to work in a sort-of heartfelt conversation between Mordin and Harry, but if I can't, I'll wait until I get through the Arrival DLC mission. In any case, I was definitely _not_ happy with how the Arrival DLC turned out, so you can expect me to change that for the better! Until next time, please leave a review and take care of yourselves, or you might one day find yourselves strapped to Harry's operating table!**

 **Peace!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh, wow! It took me this long to churn out this chapter, yet it's _still_ rushed! Blame it on the Arrival DLC, 'cause that's what I do. I hated that DLC, but it was important to the plot, and I wanted to include some bonding between Harry and Shepard. In any case, I hope you enjoy this brief recap and complete change of the Fuck-This-Shit-We-Don't-Care-About-Plot-Or-Logic DLC!**

 **Enjoy, and leave a review on your way out!**

–

"This is annoying..."

Harry was sitting in Shepard's cabin. He had arrived uninvited, of course, but Shepard hadn't turned him away, and now he sat on Shepard's couch, slouched against the backrest with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. If it wasn't for the fact that he was breathing, Shepard would have thought he was dead. His whole body was completely relaxed, not a single muscle tensed up in the slightest, and he wasn't even blinking.

"Don't you have work to do?" Shepard asked, sitting on her bed.

"I sure do, but I won't have time to finish it before we arrive," Harry answered, sounding incredibly bored. "That's what I hate about traveling through hyperspace. It takes too long to get there quickly, and too quickly to get any work done during the wait. At least when you go between near-lying systems."

"Guess we have a moment to talk, then," Shepard said, and Harry's head slowly turned to look at her. When he saw that she was leaning forward, resting her elbows against her knees, he gave a small frown.

"Ah, hell, that's never good... Or so I've heard."

"I got curious when we helped Mordin," Shepard said, her brow furrowing. "I put it in the back of my mind since I thought we had more important things to do, but since you're here... Whenever the consequences of the genophage were mentioned, you gave Mordin this look, and I know empathy when I see it. It was like you've done something similar."

"Noticed that, did you?" Harry asked as he straighened up, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. "Well, yeah, I guess you could call it 'something similar.'"

"Care to elaborate?"

Harry hummed and leaned back again, his unblinking eyes staring up at the smoke rising from the cigarette. It was like he needed some time to think about whether to elaborate or not.

"Well, I suppose that's a story I should start by asking you if you're aware of the Multiverse Theory."

"You mean that theory about parallel universes?" Shepard asked, to which Harry nodded.

"Basically. It's the idea that for every decision we make, a new universe is created. And that all reaches down to a molecular level. Take Earth, for instance. There might be one Earth out there where humanity is still in the Dark Ages, an earth where your parents never met, so you were never born, an Earth where the world ended in nuclear war... There's even an Earth where no fish was brave enough to crawl up on land and humans never evolved. And so on, ad infinitum."

"That sounds ridiculous."

"It gets even more so. Anything you can imagine, odds are there's a universe where that is a truth. There's probably even millions of universes where you're a guy, where you have a different facial structure, where you have different hair. Some differences are so slight that you can spends thousands of years looking for them. Like a universe where I had coffee this morning instead of tea."

Shepard frowned at those implications. The sheer amount of universes where such a small decision can create a new one... No wonder why he said 'infinite'. If that theory was correct, then there would just be more and more with every second...

"Alright, now I know the theory. What does that have to do with what you were saying?"

"You ever wonder how I have managed to get so far ahead of the entire galaxy in technological progress?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. She could practically feel him nudging her in the ribs trying to get her to get the hint.

"Are you telling me you've visited parallel universes and gotten their technology?"

"You're half-right. The truth is, I'm _from_ a parallel universe," Harry explained. "Where I'm from, humanity reached other galaxies in the early twenty-first century. And we did it all without Mass Effect physics. I was the descendant of a long-dead race that humans called the Ancients, sort of like Protheans in this galaxy, which made my brain naturally more evolved than a normal human.

"In any case, a lot of things happened in my early years, and when I went to another galaxy where the last functioning ship of my people was stashed, we discovered that it had been overrun by an alian race, called the Wraith. I was happy to have something new to study and did so with gusto."

Harry paused his story and took a long drag on his cigarette, a look of nostalgia washing over him.

"It was a good time in my life. Back before I even proposed to Tonks. Ah well, in any case, the Wraith were dangerous. They were a vampiric hive-based species who survived by sucking the 'life-force,'" Harry said, using air-quotes, "of other beings for nourishment. They had enslaved pretty much the whole galaxy, culling their human 'herd' every few hundred years, eating, and then going to sleep for another couple of centuries. It was a process that had gone on for ages."

"It's a fascinating story, for sure," Shepard said, no longer surprised by anything Harry said. Given how much he knew and what he could do, it didn't really come as a surprise that he hadn't invented all that in this universe. It showed how jaded Shepard had become to surprises when the only thing that disturbed her with this whole this was that there was a universe out there where Commander Shepard was a man. "I guess these Wraith have something to do with what you told Mordin?"

"I share Mordin's opinion. All life is... hm... I shouldn't say precious, but it should be preserved. I enjoy seeing evolution at work. But the Wraith were a threat, and they saw no need to stop what they were doing. In fact, they were desperate to get to Earth, where there were billions of humans to feed on.

"I designed a virus that was released on all the planets in the galaxy. It was harmless to humans, but if a Wraith got infected, their entire system would start shutting down, starting with their ability to feed. It was also highly contagious. If one was infected and went back to his ship, then game over for that ship."

Harry leaned forward now, resting his elbows against his knees much like Shepard, and heaved a great sigh.

"Within weeks, the Wraith threat was gone. Corpse-filled hive ships floated around in space with nowhere to go. It was only then that I realized how... _quiet_ everything was. And it struck me how eager I had been. Running the simulations, synthesizing the virus, it was all so much fun for a guy like me. There was no need to release it. In fact, I could have had a lot more fun simply leaving the virus once it was done and moving on to a new project, such as, say, altering the Wraith physiology to the point where they could live on normal food.

"Because that's all the Wraith were really trying to do," Harry said, giving Shepard a serious look that seemed sort of sad. "They wanted to eat and survive, same as us. Their food just so happened to be humans, and so they treated us like we do our own cattle. If I had just brought their diet down one step on the food chain, we could have become allies, and the Wraith could have continued existing and evolving, something interesting for me to observe."

"But if the Wraith were eating humans, then didn't that make them your enemy?" Shepard asked, which caused Harry to give her a disappointed look.

"Turians were once humanity's enemies. And look at them now. Don't get me wrong, Shepard, I am more than happy to fight enemies, especially the Collectors and Reapers, but I can't help but wonder every now and then what the Wraith could have evolved into. They had already existed for a hundred thousand years. The next evolutionary step was close, no doubt. And then, in just a few weeks, they were gone." He sighed and shook his head. "Ah well, I guess there's really no point dwelling on it."

Shepard just sat there, watching Harry. Once again there was a new side of him that she hadn't expected. Remorse wasn't something Harry would ever show. Even empathy had been a stretch, but remorse? Didn't seem to be in Harry's character.

"So, if you're from a parallel Earth, why did you come here?" she wanted to know. She didn't expect much of a reason, considering this was Harry she was talking to, but one could always hope. She wouldn't be surprised to hear him claim that he simply got bored.

"I came here at the request of a friend. He had a sight that could reach farther than anything else, even able to see other universes. He warned me of the Reapers, and wanted me to come here to stop them. I guess I failed pretty badly, huh?"

There was a humorless smile on Harry's face as he scoffed, shaking his head mostly to himself, while Shepard sat there wide-eyed.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. When I came to Earth, I wanted to guide the people along, stick in a little invention here, another there, to make them advanced enough to combat the Reapers when they come, but... Well, humanity has always managed to find some way to disappoint me, no matter the universe. So many greedy politicians, warmongering soldiers who think they're Attila the Hun, religious nutjobs, everything... So I withheld most of my technology, and simply decided to work with what was around me. That's when we found the Prothean ruins on Mars. I jumped on it. This was natural in this world, and something to use. I guess I had been hoping that this sure sign of other races, races that might be stronger than humans, would mellow them out."

Harry scoffed again.

"But no, they decided we needed to go further, to go through the relay when we found it. And, of course, the First Contact War broke out soon after. And when I discovered the Citadel and the Council Races, I thought, now there are technologically advanced races who seem to be capable of working together in peace!" Harry continued, but he wasn't smiling, so clearly his opinion had been shattered. "Sure they were, but they all had the same crap among their people as humanity did."

"So, what did you do?" Shepard asked.

"Lost faith. Lost sight of what I came here to accomplish. I figured, well, if they're gonna squabble amongst themselves and can't live together properly, then they don't deserve to be helped. So, I went to the Traverse, found myself a cozy little asteroid belt, and I made my base."

"Was that why you left?" Shepard asked. "Rumors say that you left after a heated argument with Alliance brass in Twenty-One Sixty-Three."

"That was the last straw, yeah," Harry said with a nod. "Humanity had started doing AI research. Now, I didn't care if it was illegal, but they weren't doing a very good job. Those knock-off AI were aware, but... there were so many errors in their designs, and the researchers didn't even notice. They were torturing them without even knowing. When I brought this up to the brass, they told me there were no problems, because they weren't even living beings. That was it for me. That's when I lost faith. They didn't even have love for their own creations. So, I left."

"You know, repeating what you said in my head," Shepard said with a hum, rubbing her chin and thinking back, "you've never really struck me as the type to have faith in anything other than yourself, or your AI."

"It used to be that way. But eventually, I got a bit infected with that particular disease," Harry muttered, frowning. Clearly, things had been a lot easier for him before he started having faith. Eventually, he shrugged. "Blame my wives. That's what I do."

"I admit, I didn't expect you to open up like this so suddenly. I thought I'd have to pry it out of you."

"It's not like we're strangers anymore," Harry commented. "I-" He was interrupted by a beep from his PAD, and he pushed a button on it to reveal a holographic model of Aceso's head. "What is it?"

" _I apologize for disturbing you, father, but I have report on Project Overkill,_ " she said, and Harry nodded, urging her to continue. " _Construction is now seventy percent completed. Five-_ "

"Ah!" Harry interrupted, holding up his hand. "Send me a detailed report so I can read through it later."

" _Understood father,_ " Aceso said, then faded away.

Lowering his arm, Harry looked up to see Shepard staring at him expectantly, a slender eyebrow raised.

"Secret project?"

"Yeah," Harry said as he covered his PAD with his sleeve again. "Just a little thing I saw in a vid back in my own universe. Thought it would be fun to build it."

"Care to share?"

Harry gave Shepard a small grin. "Nope. But I do have something for you."

He reached into his coat pocket and fished out what looked like a slimmer copy of a PAD, which he tossed to Shepard.

"What's this?" she asked curiously, looking it over.

"A cloaking device, the same kind that's installed in my PAD," Harry explained. "Since this is supposed to be covert, I think you might need it. Just push the button clearly labeled 'Cloak.'"

Shepard studied the four buttons on the device, two of which had arrows on them, one up and one down, the third said 'Cloak,' and the last one...

"Harry, why does this button say 'Boom'?"

"Well, that's the self-destruct, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands if you're captured," Harry said. "Just twist it clockwise, press the button and, you know, boom."

Unlike Daniel Jackson, Shepard seemed to just naturally believe that there was a timer. She clearly didn't know Harry well enough to be suspicious about that. Ah well, at least he didn't have to explain to her why he didn't set a timer.

"In any case, I'm going to need to make some changes to your helmet visor," Harry continued. "I'm going to install a couple of vision modes so that you can actually see what you're doing when you're cloaked. That's what those arrow buttons are for."

–

Plant life and rocks was most of what could be seen when Harry and Shepard beamed into view outside a rather large, low-tech-looking steel and concrete building. As soon as they materialized, both activated their cloaking devices. Shepard sifted through the various vision mode until she landed on what she would forever call 'Green Mode.' It was much like nightvision, turning everything green, but she could also see the invisible Harry clear as day, his form almost blindingly white. The same could be said for the rain. As soon as the drops hit the ground, it was like they were sending off shimmering, white ripples, like when you drop a stone in water.

They headed for the closest door, only to find it locked. Thankfully there was a panel on the side which Shepard quickly hacked to unlock the door using her omnitool. They entered the building, to find it looking almost abandoned. The concrete floor was cracked, and debris from the ceiling was scattered all over the floor, pipes leaking everywhere.

"This is supposed to be a prison outpost," Harry muttered in disgust. "Shouldn't they take better care of it, you think?"

"So, if we can beam up and down, why didn't we just pluck Kenson from her cell?" Shepard asked as they made their way through the corridor, only to come to a stop at a giant hole in the floor.

"I'm actually going to look into that," Harry said as they jumped over the hole, something Shepard could now do with her enhanced leg strength. "There's something in these walls that are blocking the scanner. Maybe a compound in the metal, or something... I'll have to do some research later. Can't beam someone out if you don't know where they are. Hence why we never got any schematics for the place, either."

"Hold," Shepard whispered as they reached a doorway in the corridor, going left into another corridor. She peered around the corner and saw a varren wandering slowly toward them. It had clearly heard and smelled them, but couldn't see them, so it was sniffing around like crazy trying to locate its new prey. Shepard made a gesture, and Harry took this as his cue, darting around the corner and making a beeline for the varren, who looked up just in time for Harry's arm to loop around its neck, squeezing tight until the snapping of its neck was heard, after which Harry let it drop to the ground.

"Why are there varren down here?" he wondered, scratching his head. "The door was locked."

"This must be where batarians take their prisoners to die," Shepard muttered in disgust.

As they continued on their way and reached a doorway that was blocked by high-powered lasers, they heard a deep batarian voice through the ceiling.

"Take the human into questioning."

"Get your hands off me!" a female voice barked, which made Harry and Shepard share a look.

"Well, she's alive," Harry said, shrugging. "It's something."

They switched to X-ray and looked up through the ceiling, seeing three skeletons right above them in what appeared to be a very small cell. One skeleton, a batarian, was standing by the doorway holding a rifle, while another was draging a human skeleton out of the cell.

The lasers were moving up and down, and when they switched back to Green Mode, both crouched and waited for the bottom laser to move up, before quickly rolling under and past it.

"Imagine if that was a set grid," Harry quipped as they continued on their way, which made Shepard scoff.

"Or imagine if we hadn't thought of rolling under. We may have had to take a ridiculously convuluted detour to get where we need to go."

"There are probably universes where you did," Harry mused, then grinned at her. "Your male counterpart, I mean."

Shepard once more shuddered at the thought of a male Shepard. She smacked Harry on the arm for good measure. "I thought I told you not to mention Bizarro Shepard around me..."

"I know, that's why I did it."

"You're an ass sometimes."

They headed through a door and came out into a courtyard of some sort, which was filled with containers, along with a large gate in front of which a truck stood parked. Probably some kind of loading area. They took cover behind a container, because this place was open, so the Normandy could actually scan the place. Harry may have been invisible, but the holographic image of the courtyard that materialized over his PAD wasn't.

"Four of them," Harry muttered, studying the four guards patrolling the courtyard. "We may be invisible, but we're still solid. Anyone with sharp eyes would see the rain smattering against our forms..."

"So we stick to the walls with overhangs to avoid the rain," Shepard said, gesturing for a nearby loading ramp. A quick dash, and they'd be there. "Hope the door's open and just dart in."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry said as the hologram disappeared.

They dashed off, jumping up on the loading ramp and skidding to a halt under the roof sticking out of the wall. Thankfully, they were in luck, as the large doors where supplies would be loaded into were open, and they quickly made their way inside, but noticed that the water was still sticking to their forms, making their invisibility practically useless.

"Hold on," Harry whispered, and Shepard watched as he waved his hands toward himself and Shepard, and the Commander was greatly surprised to see the water just disappear. She was about to ask, but Harry just hushed her, pointing toward the door where a batarian guard was just walking past it.

While there wasn't any debris now, the inside of this place still looked in poor shape. The walls were covered in rusted metal, and the doors weren't much better. This truly didn't seem like a good place for a prison. Shepard was sure that with time, it would be disturbingly easy to break through the walls.

She also couldn't help but feel that it would have taken a lot longer to get here if they hadn't bypassed the lasers.

Still, this was why she preferred full-frontal assaults over stealth. Sneaking around and avoiding guards wasn't really fun. It would have been easier to have Harry carving the way in front with his scythe, while she picked off enemies at long distance. But no, couldn't cause an intergalactic incident.

It wasn't long until they found the interrogation room, and upon entering they found a gray-haired older woman dressed in settler clothing strapped to a table, which had been raised into an almost upright position, a mechanical arm suspended in front of her with two long grippers around her head. Between the grippers, electricity was sparking angrily, and there was no doubt in Shepard's mind that this was a torture device.

In front of the woman stood a helmeted batarian working on his omnitool, probably preparing to use the torture device, but before he even registered that the door had opened, Shepard clocked him with a vicious haymaker that sent him flying into a wall, his helmet split in two.

"Who... Who are you?" the captured woman asked as Shepard and Harry dropped their cloaks. "What are you doing here?"

"Dr. Kenson?" Shepard assumed, walking up and behind the table and bringing out her omnitool to hack the arm and restraints. "I'm Commander Shepard, and this is Dr. Potter. We're here to get you out."

"Commander Shepard?" Kenson asked, apparently having never heard of Harry, or maybe thinking he was some other Dr. Potter. "I'd heard you were alive. Hackett must have received my message."

"We're not safe here," Shepard said, finishing her hack and watching the arm pull back from Kenson's head. "Can you walk?"

With the restraints now unlocked, Kenson pulled herself free and took a few steps away from the table, rubbing her wrists.

"I'm fine. Just give me a moment..."

"A moment isn't something we have," Harry said, poking his head out the door. "Someone will notice you're-"

He cut himself off as an alarm began blaring throughout the prison. Clearly, the batarians were one step ahead of him this time. How nice of them to rob the team of the need for stealth.

"If we can get to an open area, I can have Aceso beam us out," Harry said as Kenson picked up a pistol that had once belonged to the now unconscious batarian. "Now, I can handle being shot once or twice, but I don't know about you lot, so we should make it quick."

Just as he said that, a batarian made his way into the room, but Harry quickly lashed out and grabbed him on either side of the head and gave it a violent twist, snapping his neck immediately.

"He's right about that," Shepard told Kenson. "Let's go!"

"If we can find a console, I can hack security!" Kenson told them as they rushed out of the room and down the corridor they came from. "Make us an escape path!"

"No time for that!" Harry said as they approached a locked door, which, by the looks of things, was the quickest way to get back to the courtyard. He stuck his fingers inbetween the doors and pried them open with brute force. Not the most artistic way to open a door, but there wasn't time for anything else.

On the other side of the door, he saw a good fifteen batarians readying their weapons and training them and the intruders. Harry, Shepard, and Kenson immediately ducked behind cover as a hail of gunfire blasted at them.

"Well," Harry said as he reached into his coat and took out his scythe, pushing a button on it to make it extend and ignite, "guess we're doing this the fun way."

"I was never one for stealth, anyway," Shepard said as she readied her assault rifle.

Harry gave her a grin, and then hopped out from behind the cover, charging at the batarians.

As could be expected, he went through them like a hot knife through butter, with Shepard providing backup by picking off those out of Harry's range.

Once the last batarian had lost his head, Harry looked at Shepard and Kenson and pointed to a nearby door.

"Courtyard's this way," he told them, before slicing the door to pieces, revealing yet another long corridor with another door at the end.

"Who do you know that?" Shepard asked, running alongside him.

"I mapped this place out as we went," Harry said simply. "We've circled around from the courtyard."

They reached the door, which was also cut to ribbons by Harry's scythe and charged through into, indeed, the rainy courtyard, which was now empty as the soldiers outside had probably rushed toward the interrogation room. Now that they were outside, Harry raised his PAD to his mouth.

"Aceso, get us out of here!"

With that, the three of them disappeared in a flash of white light.

When they reappeared outside the cockpit, Harry immediately looked toward Joker in the pilot seat.

"Cloak us and take us out of here."

"Amen to that," Joker said, punching in the commands on his holographic console.

"Now, Doctor, I think we should have a little talk," Shepard said, turning to Kenson. "Mind telling me just _why_ we're fleeing from that prison?"

"I assume it's because batarians don't take kindly to humans trying to destroy their mass relays," Kenson said, making Harry raise a curious eyebrow.

"So, they were actually holding you on legitimate charges?"

"Well, to be fair, that's about half the story," Kenson told them. "My people and I were here investigating rumors of Reaper technology out in the fringes of this system."

"I guess you found something," Shepard concluded, to which Kenson nodded.

"We found proof that the Reapers will be arriving in this system. When they get here, they'll use its mass relay to travel throughout the galaxy," she told them, turning to the cockpit to look out the window at the mass relay visible in the distance. "We call it the 'Alpha Relay.' From here, the Reapers can invade anywhere in the galaxy."

"So you decided to destroy it."

"Exactly. Doing that would stop the Reapers' invasion. Even at FTL speeds, it'd be months or years before they got to the next relay. We came up with what we just called 'the Project': a plan to launch a nearby asteroid into the relay and destroy it before the Reapers could arrive."

Harry frowned at hearing that, before giving a scoff.

"How typical of humans. The first solution, no matter how crude, is always the best one, is that it? Did you ever consider the consequences of destroying a mass relay?"

"Consequences?" Shepard asked, looking to the resident mass effect expert. "Aren't mass relays indestructible, anyway?"

"Nothing's indestructible," Harry said, waving her off. "It's mostly that no one wants to see what happens if it does get destroyed. To break it down into simple terms, imagine that a supernova is packed into that relay," he said, giving her a serious look. "Destroying the 'casing,' so to speak, would unleash it, destroying the whole system. Fun in theory, maybe, but nothing that should be put to practice."

"Would you rather the Reapers invade?" Kenson asked in surprise, which got her a glare from Harry.

"No, I'd rather find a better way to stop them. How long do you estimate until they get here?"

"It should be two days now."

"Do you have a plan?" Shepard asked him, and he raised his hand to his chin, his brain already going through hundreds of ideas.

"I suppose we could... No, that would completely disable it, and we'd get flak from the batarians for that... But maybe if we... No, too difficult in such a short time-frame... Perhaps... Hm..."

Shepard was looking at Harry with something akin to amusement, watching as his brow furrowed in thought. As though trying to help his brain along, the screws in his head were turning again and again.

"I... think I have an idea," he told her, nodding more to himself than to her. "This ship has enough power to do it, that's for sure. I always go over the top for a reason, after all. Yes, it could work."

"Care to clue me in?" Shepard asked, but Harry shook his head.

"Not with an indoctrinated on board."

Shepard blanched in surprise, then looked to Kenson, whose eyes had widened. It wasn't a look of shock on her face. It was more the look one could see on a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar. But before she could even do anything, Harry's hand had already closed around Kenson's head, and there was a burst of what looked like yellow-colored electricity around his fingers that charged straight into her skull, and without a sound, Kenson's body went slack, allowing Harry to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder.

"How..." Shepard was in a bit of shock, not sure yet if Harry's judgement could be trusted. "How do you know she's indoctrinated?"

Harry smirked at her and reached up, tapping the device over his right eye.

"The upgrades I gave your visor aren't the only things I have packed in here. I read her brain patterns, and they're all over the place. I guess you could call it a black spot on the frontal lobe, affecting her executive processes, voluntary motor control, et cetera. Well, I guess we'll first get her awake and questioned on this Project of hers, then we'll get to work on my plan."

Shepard could only gape at Harry as he spun around and headed off toward his lab with Kenson over his shoulder. Somehow, she had the feeling that Harry had just saved her plenty of trouble in the future.

–

"Well now," Harry said, lighting a cigarette as he sat in his lab. In front of him, restrained to a specially designed chair constructed from nanobots, sat Dr. Kenson, whose gaze was completely blank, as though she was stuck in a particularly pleasant daydream. Harry was sitting in his chair, backrest forward, with Mordin standing on his right, and Shepard on his left.

"What have you done to her?" Shepard asked, waving a hand in front of Kenson's face. She didn't react in the slightest.

"I gave her a truth serum," Harry said, puffing on his cigarette. "It's a little recipe I picked up from back home. Puts the subject into a sort of dream state, open to answering any and all questions with the truth. Observe. Kenson, when did you lose your virginity?"

"In the Alliance Academy when I was eighteen," Kenson said, not even blushing at answering such an embarrassing question.

"See? Now, Kenson, if you're indoctrinated, why did you tell us about the Project to stop the Reapers?"

"Shepard is special. She has been touched by them, yet they cannot pierce her mind," Kenson spoke in a monotone voice. "She interests them. They want her alive for study."

"Fancy that," Harry said, giving Shepard a look of interest.

"Did you have any plans on actually activating the Project?" Shepard asked, ignoring Harry's look.

"No. It was all a show. We had to make it real for Admiral Hackett to avoid suspicion. We were supposed to be just a few seconds to late. My capture and subsequent rescue was just a happy accident."

"And how did you become indoctrinated? How did you find out about the invasion?"

"We call it Object Rho, a Reaper artifact we discovered among the asteroids near the relay itself," Kenson said. "I touched it, and it showed me a vision. After that, the path was clear to me."

"Where is this Object Rho?" Harry cut in.

"It is in Project Base, an installation built on the asteroid 157-Golgotha in the Bahak system."

"That's closeby," Shepard said, glancing at Harry. "Do we have time?"

"Yeah, my plan isn't too hard to put into action," the scientist said, nodding. "We can stop by for a quick visit on the asteroid."

"Is everyone at the Project Base indoctrinated?" Shepard asked Kenson, who nodded.

"Yes."

"Will they turn violent if we show up?"

"If you show any intention of interfering with the invasion, then yes, they will be hostile."

Harry took out a syringe from a case on his desk and stuck it into Kenson's neck, pushing the plunger and injecting her with the contents. Seconds later, Kenson's eyes closed and her head dropped, fast asleep.

"That should keep her unconscious until we can hand her over to the Alliance."

"So, plan is...?" Mordin asked, glancing at Harry.

"I'm thinking we can connect the Normandy's stealth drive to the mass relay and activate it just before the Reapers plan to invade. It will hide its energy signature and make it look as though it isn't there," Harry said, puffing on his cigarette. "It will neither send nor receive signals. It will be completely hidden for as long as we remain in stealth mode."

"Fascinating idea. Very simple, minimal risk. Have the power," Mordin mused, rubbing his chin. "Recommend allowing for an hour before and after invasion deadline. No need to take unnecessary risks."

"Agreed," Harry said, nodding in agreement. "So, we're setting a course for the asteroid?"

"I'll go tell Joker," Shepard said, but stopped when EDI's voice sounded through the lab.

" _I apologize, but I couldn't help but listen in. I have already informed Mr. Moreau of our destination. He has already plotted the course. Estimated time of arrival is ten minutes._ "

"Oh," Shepard spoke, blinking. Usually she had to issue orders from the cockpit or galaxy map, so this was a strange feeling. "Thank you, EDI."

" _You're welcome, Shepard._ "

It was approximately twelve minutes later that Harry, Shepard, and Frank were beamed into a hangar bay inside a research station built on an asteroid in the Bahak system. The interior looked like something Cerberus would build, sleek and clean, the polar opposite of the prison they had visited earlier, only instead of Cerberus' preferred color scheme of white, black, and orange, this base stuck with mostly white, with blue horizontal lines painted on the walls.

Above the doorway leading into the rest of the base, there was a timer that was constantly counting down. It was currently showing '02:03:25:26.' Two days, three hours, twenty-five minutes, and twenty-six seconds.

"I guess we have plenty of time," Harry mused as he looked to Frank. "Watch our backs. Anyone so much as reached for a gun..."

" _Termination with extreme prejudice,_ " Frank finished for him, sounding gleeful as always at the thought of violence.

"Right, I guess we're gonna follow your eye?" Shepard asked Harry, who nodded as he closed his left eye and took a good look at the base with his scanner, his hand raising to point at the floor to their left.

"Yeah, there are some incredible energy readings coming from that direction, all concentrated in one spot. I see the same indoctrination signals originating from... seventy-eight people in here. All the people on the base, like Kenson said."

"You can really see that?" Shepard asked as they walked through the doorway.

"Yeah, like I said, it leaves a specific energy signature on the frontal lobe. If you know what to look for, it's not hard to find. I'll give EDI the signature later so she'll know what to scan for."

Strangely enough, the corridors were ominously empty as the trio walked through the base. Harry's scanner picked up the signals actively moving away from them as they approached, as though they wanted them to come...

"I don't like this..." Shepard muttered, her assault rifle at the ready.

"Yeah, it's like the artifact wants us to come," Harry agreed, lighting a cigarette. He maintained a calm look, but he was a bit unnerved. There was this feeling in the air, the artifact's energy, that made his skin crawl. Like it was trying to drill its way into his brain or something.

" _Master, I am... feeling strange,_ " Frank said from behind them. " _Perhaps this is the infamous indoctrination we have heard so much about? It is trying to rewrite my primary functions._ "

"Are you alright, Frank?" Harry asked, looking over his shoulder at his AI with a look of concern on his face, something Shepard was incredibly surprised to see.

" _I am perfectly capable of defending myself against it. After all, this is not the first time someone has tried to reprogram me, master, but I must admit, it is a refreshing challenge._ "

Leave it to Frank to be happy about someone attempting to brainwash him...

"I'm feeling a bit wonky..." Shepard muttered, which made Harry give an impressed smile as his ears twitched.

"Huh... Infrasound," he said to himself, but which Shepard heard and made her look at him as they stepped into an elevator.

"What?"

"It seems to be one of the ways this thing is broadcasting. Infrasound, and... Hm, that's odd..."

When Harry seemed puzzled, that was a bad sign. Shepard had only known him for a short while, but well enough to know that he was very knowledgeable in these matters, so when he furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin, it couldn't mean anything good.

"What's odd?" Shepard asked, not really knowing if she wanted an answer to the question.

"It's... broadcasting a signal... I can't recognize it. It's on a completely different spectrum than I'm used to. Frank, your thoughts?"

" _I agree, master, I haven't seen anything like it,_ " Frank said, tilting his head to the side slightly. " _Though if I were to guess, it is very similar to a quantum entanglement communicator, only... There is no set point? I require a moment to process this data._ "

"Yeah, this is more advanced than a QEC," Harry agreed, nodding. "I can only guess it's a signal that reaches into Reaper territory in dark space."

"That's bad, right?" Shepard asked, but Harry shook his head.

"No, it's a good thing, actually. If it's sentient, then we can convince it that we intend to destroy the mass relay. It will make it easier for the Reapers to buy our ruse."

The elevator came to a stop, and they stepped out, continuing to follow the energy signature.

Eventually, the trio stepped into a large room with a ceiling like a dome. In the very center of the room was what could only be Object Rho. It was a large artifact made of the same purple metal as a Reaper, and it was shaped sort of like an open tulip, only with many more, slimmer petals. In the center of the artifact, an ice-blue energy was being emitted.

Shepard felt strangely drawn to it. She made to take a step forward, but was stopped when Harry put a hand on her shoulder, an unusually serious expression on his face.

"It's trying to indoctrinate you," he told her. "Don't give in. Let's just destroy it, and then get to work blowing up the relay."

Any proof they needed that Rho was sentient was given when it seemed to respond to Harry's statement. The energy in its center started glowing brightly, and then it expelled a massive amount of energy in a radius that knocked both Harry and Shepard off their feet. There was a chain reaction to this. Frank gave off a garbled sound upon being hit by the energy, and his current body exploded into tiny pieces, while Harry's scanner, along with his right eye, exploded as well, making him cry out in pain.

Meanwhile, Shepard's mind was assaulted with hundreds of images. Reapers in dark space heading for the Milky Way galaxy, hundreds of planets on fire, destruction everywhere... So much suffering would be brought by a Reaper invasion...

" _...pard?_ Shepard!"

Shepard was brought back to the land of the living by the voice, and someone was shaking her. Her eyes opened to see Harry, the right side of his face bloodied and torn, his right eye gone, staring down at her in concern.

"Shepard, can you hear me?" he asked, and Shepard had to admit that she felt flattered at the emotion she heard in his voice. She didn't think he was even capable of it. Naturally, Shepard responded to his question in her own unique way, raising her hand to press it against her forehead.

"Ooh, that's not a headache that'll go away anytime soon..." she muttered, which made Harry give a small laugh as he helped her to her feet. There was no mistaking it. There was relief hidden somewhere in that laugh.

"Had me worried there for a second," he told her. "That energy output was intense. This is our chance, now that it's charging back up. I'll be planting an explosive. You cover the door, alright? People will probably come swarming in to protect it."

"Right..." Shepard said, picking up her assault rifle and shaking her head to clear it.

That vision had been intense. Like, really intense. She could almost still feel the pain every person she saw in there experienced, and it was almost tearing her up inside. But the mission came first. She could contemplate this and brood in private once this was all over.

Harry's PAD had thankfully not exploded from the energy overload, so while Shepard covered the door, which soon hissed opened and revealed several armed people trying to take them down, Harry removed several keron blocks attached to it, putting them together to make a bomb powerful enough to take out at least the base. Though since Harry was such a fan of overkill, the destruction of the asteroid was guaranteed.

"Are you done yet?!" Shepard yelled from behind cover as she took down three more enemies.

"Just about," Harry informed her, standing up from behind his own cover to throw the bomb at the artifact. The bomb attached to it like a magnet, and Harry immediately raised his PAD to his mouth. "Aceso, take us out."

With that, the two disappeared in a flash of white light.

Shepard had to admit that watching that asteroid explode with a massive ring of blue energy expanding from it, as though it had cleaved the rock in half, from the cockpit of the Normandy was quite the sight to behold. She glanced at Harry, who was grunting now and then as the skin around his eye healed.

"I'm sorry about Frank," she told him sincerely, but he waved her off.

"Frank always makes backups of himself before he goes on missions. It was just a body that was destroyed, not the mind." He paused for a second, then gave her a small smile. "But thanks for the sympathy. It's appreciated. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go right ahead and make myself another eyeball."

With that, Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked away, as though it was just another day on the job.

–

 **Right, chapter end! Thankfully I could squeeze the DLC into a single chapter. I won't apologize for rushing it, since I hate that part of the game, but I'd like to apologize to you if it felt like I skipped some important points in it. However you felt about it, please tell me in a review to keep my inspiration flowing. Praise or criticism, I don't care, as long as it's honest!**

 **Peace!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Well now, if it hasn't been a long time since I uploaded a new chapter for this story! Sorry, guys! Circumstances arose, things went down, I won't make excuses, just apologize! I know I say this every time, but hopefully I will be able to release the next chapter a bit quicker!**

–

Harry couldn't believe that energy Rho had unleashed. It was on a completely different level from anything he had encountered before. His PAD had been acting a bit glitchy since they came back, and his damn eye and scanner had exploded because they were almost tuned to the same frequency, same with Frank (who hadn't been able to shut up about the embarrassing defeat).

Well, at least there was peace and quiet for a while, with the Normandy latched onto the mass effect relay like a tic, giving Harry time to work on his new things.

Way back when, Nym had told him that he was being silly for always bringing spare parts for everything he brought into the field, and Harry could never convince her it was necessary. Boy, if she could see him now... She'd make him sleep outside for the smugness he'd show.

"You alright?" came a voice, breaking him out of his thoughts, and he looked over his shoulder to find Shepard standing in the doorway. Shepard flinched slightly when she saw the empty socket that should have contained his right eye. "Er, shouldn't that have grown back?"

"I replaced my right eye when I was a teenager," Harry told her, getting back to work on assembling his new eye, a silvery orb with a glowing green circle in place of a pupil, surrounded by three small, glowing lights. Shepard had to admit that it looked a lot like the design of the Illusive Man's eyes. The last part was attached to it, and Harry squeezed the eye into his empty socket with a slightly disturbing ' _pop_ ' sound. "There we go," he said as he fully turned to her, his eye, unlike the Illusive Man's, spinning slowly, the center circle expanding and shrinking in what reminded her of a camera lense focusing.

"So, why do you need that scanner thing?" Shepard asked, walking up to Harry's desk as he went back to work, this time starting to assemble said scanner. "I mean, that eye has all the same goodies, right?"

"My eye can cycle through many types of vision, record vids, et cetera, but my scanner contains much more. I'd pack it all into only my eye, but then I'd have to make it bigger and perform skeletal reconstruction on myself to make it fit."

Shepard glanced at him, now noticing that he had a tiny hole in his temple, the edges covered in metal. It sort of looked like something you might plug a pair of headphones into back in the day, before wireless became a thing.

"What's that?" she asked, poking the hole.

"That is what connects this" – Harry held up the half-assembled scanner – "to my brain. Has Frank reported in yet?"

"Yeah," Shepard said with a nod, turning around and leaning back against Harry's desk with her arms crossed. "There was a lot of cursing and complaining, but the jist of his report is that the Normandy is all hooked up to the mass relay."

"That's good," Harry said, before perking up. "You know, I just realized how lucky we were to encounter Object Rho."

"Lucky?" Shepard asked with her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "I don't think we share the same definition of the word. Frank blew up, and so did your eye, and I almost got indoctrinated. Hell, we all almost got indoctrinated."

"I mean lucky regarding this plan of mine," Harry clarified. "I would never have considered countermeasures against this unique energy signature the Reapers give off when they communicate. Never even struck me to search for it. When I did a complete inspection of my cloaking device, I realized that it had no way of blocking that signal. If I hadn't been blasted with it, and we had gone through with the plan with an unmodified cloaking device, then the Reapers would have still seen that it was there."

Shepard stared at him for a moment, considering the implications. They had almost actually been invaded by the Reapers... And _Harry_ had actually missed something! Well, at least he seemed pleased about it... Shepard herself felt a shiver run up her spine at the thought of the Reapers invading. Taking down Sovereign in the Citadel back when had been difficult enough, and had required the bulk of the Alliance Navy to destroy. And if that vision she had seen of the Reapers was true, then there would be hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousand of them...

"Hey." An elbow nudging her brought Shepard out of her horrified musings, and she looked down to see Harry giving her a slightly concerned look. "Don't worry. We found the problem and fixed it. No use crying over spilled milk that hasn't even been spilt, yeah?"

"Yeah," Shepard said, sighing. "It's just that... when that energy hit us, I... saw things..."

"What things?" Harry was staring up at her with a curious expression as he lit a cigarette. "Like, visions?"

"Yes."

"Of what?"

Shepard sighed again and leaned back further, tilting her head back to stare up at the ceiling with a solemn look on her face.

"Hundreds of thousands of Reapers, death and destruction... The end of this cycle."

Harry scoffed slightly in amusement as he got out of his chair and puffed on his cigarette, leaning against the desk next to Shepard. He had a smile on his face that looked very strange on him. It was actually nostalgic. Shepard had only seen such a smile on him a precious few times.

"You know, back in my world, I was working with a top secret government project involving space travel. Every other week, an alien race or just general threat would risk ending the world as we knew it. But it never happened. You know why?"

"Why?" Shepard asked, to which Harry gave her a small grin.

"Well, O'Neill, and later Sheppard – That's Sheppard with two P's – would have said it was all because of them. But really, it was because we were prepared."

"You knew a Sheppard?" the Commander asked, getting a nod from Harry.

"Colonel John Sheppard. A good man, just a proud moron in many ways," Harry said, grinning slightly as he remembered the military man who always gave the smallest of reactions, usually a simple "Oh..." whenever Harry showed a quick solution to a problem.

"And who was O'Neill?"

"General Jack O'Neill was also a proud moron, the proudest and laziest of them all. He was the first person I gave the Peak Physical Performance Formula to. And he hated it. He didn't like how he started getting up just after sunrise, or how he could remember things easier."

"But he was military, wasn't he?" Shepard asked in confusion, which made Harry give a small laugh.

"Oh, he loved the excitement of missions, the thrill of going to other planets, but when he was stuck at home, he really didn't like doing anything. Hell, he tended to go to his cabin in the woods to go fishing in a pond with no fish."

Shepard snorted in amusement. That didn't sound at all like the gung-ho high-ranking military that she had experience dealing with. Anderson hated sitting still, and she couldn't remember even one moment where she had actually seen Admiral Hackett sitting down.

But then, the amusement disappeared from her face, and she glanced seriously at Harry.

"Can we win this? I mean, seriously win this, without taking too many casualties?"

"I'm sure we can win, but without getting some ships a couple of new upgrades, it's going to be difficult to win without taking damage," Harry admitted, frowning slightly. "Speaking of which, I've been thinking about what you said. I'm going to help. It's about damn time, I think. But when you tell Hackett, as I'm sure you're going to call him, I want him to know for sure that it will happen on my terms. I don't want to provide humanity with a bunch of upgrades and then find them going warlords on the rest of the galaxy. It would be bad for them if they do."

"I'll let them know," Shepard assured him, giving him a strange look. "Thank you. So, what brought this on?"

"Eh, I've been contemplating wasted chances," Harry muttered. "And I started thinking about how Nym would have reacted to all this."

"She wouldn't have approved?"

"I think she personally would have built a doghouse so I could sleep in it."

That was enough to break the solemn mood that had overtaken Shepard, and she actually laughed out loud, seeing a mental picture of Harry squeezed into a little doghouse with only his head sticking out. That was an image that wouldn't be going away anytime soon, for sure.

"EDI," Harry said, glancing up at the ceiling.

" _Yes, Harry?_ "

"Is everything ready to go?"

" _Yes. The cloaking device has been activated, and the sensors are tuned to the mass relay. We'll notice an energy spike when the Reapers attempt to make the jump._ "

"How will we know it's the Reapers, and not someone else trying to jump into the system?" Shepard asked curiously.

"We'll know it by their unique energy signature. Any other ship won't give it off when they try to jump. Any ship trying to jump in will think there's a glitch or something and try again later. They won't make a spike on our sensor," Harry informed her. "Thank you, EDI."

" _It wasn't a problem._ "

"So it's helping Miranda next, then?" Harry asked, to which Shepard nodded.

"Yeah. We'll be recruiting Thane and Samara as well. Actually, I was thinking about saving us some time," she said, and Harry just raised an eyebrow, a silent way of urging her to continue. "I was thinking of splitting the rest of you up in teams to recruit Samara and Thane."

"I can take Samara," Harry told her. "We... have a history."

"History?"

"I'd rather not go into detail."

Shepard felt that familiar feeling of dread building up in her again.

"Oh dear..."

"I was very polite," Harry assured her, but Shepard didn't believe him for a second, especially when he said it with that huge grin on his face.

–

Harry, Shepard, Garrus, Jack, Miranda, Tali, Grunt, Frank, and Aceso stepped out of the Normandy at the docking bay on Illium. Harry, Garrus, and Tali were part of Group One, assigned to Samara. Jack, Frank, and Aceso were Group Two, assigned to Thane (That was a terrifying prospect...), and Shepard, Grunt, and Miranda were Group Three, assigned to helping Miranda's sister. Mordin remained on the ship. When asked to come, he had responded with a simple, "Need to think. Cannot come." Harry had accepted it, and had convinced Shepard to do the same.

Frank, much to his reluctance, had been forced to coat himself with the same nanobot-skin that Sujan was wearing. He had opted to take the form of a large, gray-haired man who looked the very image of a hardened veteran. Of course, Harry was the only one who knew her had taken the shape of Stephen Lang. The AI always did like the look of the actor in Avatar.

"So, we complete our objectives ASAP," Shepard said, looking over the three teams, already in her commander state. "No excuses. You don't manage to recruit them, you don't eat, is that understood?"

"Harsh," Harry quipped as he checked his pistol, ensuring it was in tip-top condition. "Understandable, but harsh."

"Anyone else?" Shepard asked, basically ignoring Harry as she looked over the others. When no one spoke up, she nodded. "Good. We meet back on the Normandy in eight hours, tops."

As soon as they started moving, they were greeted by an asari accompanied by two mechs, both carrying shotguns.

"Welcome to Nos Astra, Commander Shepard," the asari spoke, nodding in greeting. "We've been instructed to waive all docking and administration fees for your visit. My name is Careena. If you need information about the area, it would be my pleasure to assist you."

"Who instructed you to waive the fees?" Shepard wanted to know, to which the asari smiled at her.

"The order came from Liara T'Soni, who paid all fees on your behalf," she said and opened her omni-tool, uploading information to Shepard's own. "She also asked that I direct you to speak with her at your convenience. She's near the trading floor."

"Liara is here?" Shepard asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "What's she doing?"

"Liara is one of Nos Astra's most respected information brokers," Careena told her, almost looking proud to tell the Commander this. "Nos Astra is based upon trade. Information is a valuable currency, and Liara has done quite well."

"I'd say so..." Shepard heard Harry mutter behind her. She made a mental note to ask him about it when they weren't standing in front of Careena.

"As I said, you'll find her near the trading floor," Careena continued, not having heard what Harry said. "She was looking forward to seeing you."

"Thank you," Shepard said, nodding her head as a sign of dismissal. Careena smiled and bowed her head slightly.

"Again, welcome to our city, Commander. Please enjoy your stay."

As Careena walked away, they all heard EDI's voice in their earpieces.

"Customs records indicate a justicar named Samara is visiting this port, Shepard. Your former teammate, Liara T'Soni, may have more information. Her office overlooks the trading floor. Before Group Two moves out, they may wish to accompany you to speak with her regarding the whereabouts of Thane Krios, as well. Also, I have a message for Miss Lawson. Lanteia has reserved a room at Eternity and will be waiting."

"Thank you, EDI," Miranda said, nodding to no one in particular.

"So?" Shepard asked as she now turned to Harry, who raised an eyebrow.

"So, what?"

"Since you know about the rest of us, you know about Liara as well. That doesn't surprise me. However..." Shepard said with a small smirk on her face. After all, anything that can make Harry grumble in frustration is worth hearing about. "Have you met before?"

"Well, let's just say that she's the reason why I no longer keep organics in my information network. One little threat about what an asari commando can do, and my agent pissed his pants. He told her everything he knew about me. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was a bit too much all the same. I swear, this would never have happened if I had gone through with-"

"Father, planting bombs in the skulls of your agents would have been barbaric," Aceso cut in, which made Harry grumble again.

"So you told me, but still..."

Shepard had never been as glad that Aceso had been by Harry side for so long as now. She seemed to be the voice of reason. Although with both Harry _and_ Frank there, she probably didn't win the arguments too often.

"Well, I guess we should go to the bi- I mean, Liara, shouldn't we?" Harry continued, his slip forcing Shepard to stifle a smirk.

"Yeah, we should go."

An hour later found Harry standing with his arms crossed in front of the stairs leading up to the office of Liara T'Soni. Only Shepard wasn't in the group. Some Asari had stopped her with a 'message from Noveria.' Shepard had told the others to go ahead and wait outside Liara's place. The message couldn't possibly have taken this long, though. No doubt she had been stopped by someone else, and her heroic side shone through. Of course she'd help anyone who asked for it... So damn selfless...

"To hell with this," Harry said, turning around and moving toward the stairs.

"Father, Shepard told us to wait her-" Aceso stopped when Harry glanced over his shoulder at her. "Right, never mind. Are you going alone?"

"I think that would be best," Harry said, jogging his way up the steps.

At the top of them was a small alcove to the right, where an asari was sitting behind a desk, going over something on the holographic screen of her computer. To the left was a closed door, the holographic panel glowing red to show that it was locked. The asari looked up when Harry reached the top step, and the skin where her eyebrow would have been if she was human quirked upward as she gave him a onceover.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Liara is taking no visitors today except one, and you are definitely _not_ her."

"That's alright, she'll want to see me all the same, as soon as she heard my name."

"And that name is?"

"Dr. Harry Potter."

The asari gasped in surprise, her eyes widening. Immediately, she scrambled to reach the intercom, activating it and exclaiming, "Um, Liara, a Dr. Harry Potter is here to see you..."

There were a few moments of silence, and then the door hissed open, revealing a large, rrectangular office inside. Facing the window was another asari, wearing a green-and-white dress. Covering the window was a large amount of holographic screens, and also a hologram of a rather nervous-looking man. The asari had he back turned, and she held up a finger to stop Harry from talking before he even could.

"Have you faced an asari commando before? Few humans have," she told the hologram. "I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind."

With that, she cut off the call and turned to look at Harry, who had walked up to her desk.

"So, we meet face-to-face," she said, which made Harry grin.

"Still doing the commando threat, hm? It's a shame they don't know you'd never do it," he said, before shrugging. "Ah well, I suppose it works. In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. T'Soni."

He held out his hand, and Liara stared at it for a few seconds, probably trying to figure out if it was a trick or not. After a few moments, however, she shook it.

"Likewise, Doctor. There aren't many people in this galaxy I have been unable to track down." She was speaking with a soft, near-whispering voice, yet it carried authority. From the recordings he had swiped from the SR-1, her voice had sounded like that of a child, naive and unassuming. It seemed she knew better now. "So, what brings you to Illium? Or rather, what is so important that you would reveal yourself to me without so much as leading me on a chase around the galaxy?"

"I'm here with Shepard," Harry said, making Liara's eyes widen. He thought he could see a great deal of affection shining in those eyes.

"My sources said she was alive, but I never believed..." she muttered as her gaze drifted sadly to the floor, but then she seemed to realize something, her eyes snapping back up to stare seriously at him. "If Shepard managed to draw you out of hiding, and if you agreed... this must be important."

"The Collectors," Harry informed her. Usually, he would have lied and made people work for information, but he had respect for Liara as an information broker. After all, she was the only one in the galaxy, save for the brat, who had gotten even a sliver of information about him. And even the brat had only gotten information on where he was last seen. Aria didn't count, because he revealed himself to her for shits and giggles. She was so adorable when she was angry.

"I had heard that they had been making bolder and bolder moves lately," Liara said, turning around to stare out the window. "But why would that bring you here?"

"We're putting together a team for Shepard to lead," Harry said, lighting a cigarette. "The brat seemed to think they'd be good assets on the mission. I'll let Shepard fill you in on the details later. In any case, we've heard two of them are here on Illium."

"And why were you recruited?"

Harry offered her his trademark grin and spread his arms out as if to said, 'Just look at me!' as the doors hissed open behind him.

"Because I'm amazing, of course."

"I see that exploding eyeball of yours hasn't put a damper on your confidence," came Shepard's voice as the Commander herself walked in, accompanied by Jack. Upon seeing Harry's questioning look, Shepard jutted her thumb over her shoulder toward the door. "The others are waiting downstairs. Team leaders only."

–

The meeting with Liara had gone so-and-so. Well in most aspects, except that Shepard had agreed to help her with something revolving the Shadow Broker. But really, though, she didn't have a chance in hell to find him. Even Harry hadn't managed that. He had managed to narrow his location down to three star systems, but nothing more.

If she actually managed to figure out where the mysterious information broker resided, then that would be a great blow to Harry's pride, for sure.

Ah well, in any case, Harry and his team had made their way to the transportation hub, trying to find an asari named Dara, who might know where Samara had gone. Garrus and Tali were acting a bit uncomfortable. No doubt the only human they had ever been under the command of was Shepard.

"So, what's this history between you and Samara?" Garrus asked, trying to break the silence, which got him a small smirk from Harry.

"Well, we had an encounter some two hundred years ago. It went so-and-so, but in the end we departed as friends."

"For some reason, I have a hard time believing that."

"Granted, there may have been some shooting involved, along with some harsh words, some painful uses of biotics, and maybe, _just maybe_ , some broken bones."

"Should, uh, should we be worried?" Tali asked, looking the most nervous of the two dextros.

"Ah, you'll be fine!" Harry said happily, waving her off. "But that reminds me..." He looked over his shoulder at Tali. "Aceso tells me you had some wonderful dinner conversation recently."

"She is very kind," Tali agreed with a nod.

"I think she might have even raised Tali's opinion about AI a bit, until Frank made an appearance," Garrus supplied, and Tali cringed at the memory of him.

"Frank is just that one child who grew up watching too much violence," Harry defended immediately, then glanced over his shoulder at Garrus. "Surely, that is not a trait exclusive to AI?"

"No, I'm not saying that. Just saying that it gets a bit annoying to be referred to as an avian meatbag. I'm kind of self-conscious about my figure, you know?"

"You'd rather he call you meatstick?"

"I'd prefer him not to call me anything regarding meat."

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

"Then meatstick is fine."

"Why do you allow such an AI to roam free?" Tali asked, which made Harry chuckle.

"Frank was the first AI I ever created," he explained. "He's... precious to me. He's been with me through thick and thin. His prime directives do have many loopholes that he could exploit if he wished to, and yet he doesn't do it for my sake. He's like a son to me. And like any sons, they sure get on your nerves sometimes, but you love them all the same."

Before Tali could speak again, they found themselves at the transportation hub.

"Officer Dara?" Harry spoke up, seeing a young-looking asari sitting behind a desk. She looked up and got to her feet.

"Yes?"

"We're looking for an asari justicar named Samara," Harry informed her, and he saw her eyes immediately widen in fear.

"W-Wait, why? Do you have a problem, or... Did she kill somebody already?"

"Relax there, love," Harry said, chuckling slightly at the fact that Samara still got such reactions from people. "We just need to speak to her for a bit."

"Oh, good... Samara's the first justicar I've seen on Illium. If I'm lucky, things will stay peaceful..." Dara sighed, rubbing her forehead. "She went to the commercial spaceport a few hours ago," she continued, pointing to a nearby parking lot. "If you want to get there, the pedestal on that balcony will summon a cab. Just be polite when you meet her. Justicars embody our highest laws, and they usually stay in asari space. She's not used to dealing with aliens."

"Oh, don't worry. We're friends!" Harry said, smiling happily at her, though he noticed that she didn't look at all like she believed him.

"Right..."

"Well then!" Harry said, turning around and clapping his hands. "Time for a reunion!"

It was half an hour later that the trio stepped out of their cab at the commercial spaceport. Immediately, they noticed that an area nearby had been closed off by the asari police, and an asari was walking away from a volus who was accompanied by two mercenary guards. Grounded, no doubt.

Well, it really wasn't any of Harry's business, so they strode past the volus and headed straight for the nearest asari officer who looked like she knew what she was doing.

"Nice guns," the asari said as they approached, noticing the weapons on Tali and Garrus. "Try not to use them in my district. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for Samara, the justicar," Harry said, and was once more treated to the sight of a calm and collected asari's eyes widening in slight alarm.

"Hey, if you've got a score to settle with Samara, take it somewhere else. I've got more than enough trouble here already," the asari urged, which made Harry chuckle.

"No, no, no, we just need her help. We're here to recruit her. And if she's here for the reason I suspect, then she needs my help as well."

"Why would she need your help?" the asari asked.

"Well, because I know what she's here for, I believe, and I have information that will get her off-planet, leaving you with a lot less paperwork."

The asari paused, but then nodded.

"If you're getting her out of my district, I'll get you to her ASAP. She's at the crime scene."

"Crime scene?" Harry asked, getting a nod.

"A volus merchant was killed in that alley," she said, pointing out the window to the sealed-off area. "It's right next to an Eclipse hangout, so maybe Samara decided to dish out some cold, hard justicar justice? In any case, I'll send word to let you through the police line. Hopefully you'll be able to get her out of my district before I'm forced to take her into custody."

"Thank you," Harry said with a nod. "Let's hope you won't be forced to do that."

As they left the asari's office, Tali looked at Harry curiously.

"Why would she be forced to take her into custody?"

"Well, the Justicar Code is pretty strict. See a bad guy? Kill him," Harry explained as they rounded the corner and approached the alley, the two asari guarding it stepping aside to let them pass. "And if she were to slaughter, say, a room full of quarian drug dealers, that might cause an incident. But the Code doesn't allow a justicar to be taken in, which means she'd have to kill that asari."

"Talk about a rough job..." Garrus muttered.

They got to the crime scene, but there was no Samara there, which meant that she had gone further down the alley. Undoubtedly, she had decided to go pay a visit to the Eclipse.

"Get ready," Harry told his two companions, who brought out their weapons, Garrus with his sniper rifle, and Tali with her shotgun, both complete with modified heat sinks.

After a few moments, they heard a female voice reach their ears, barking orders.

"Get the rest of Bravo squad prepped! Alpha squad went after that justicar tenty minutes ago, and they've gone dark!"

Harry grinned.

"Well, good to hear Samara hasn't lost her edge."

Around the corner were seven Eclipse mercenaries and five combat mechs. Harry opted to go with his plasma pistol this time, rather than his scythe. He nodded to Garrus and Tali, and they nodded back, before all three came out from behind cover, opening fire.

This was the first time Harry had seen Tali in battle, but he had to admit, she was very handy with that shotgun. As it required her to be in close quarters, her lithe forms and speed allowed her to zig-zag the field to close the distance between her and the enemies, avoiding gunfire like a pro.

Well, considering she had served with Shepard before, that was to be expected, he supposed.

They made quick work of the mercenaries and mechs, and when it was done, Garrus and Tali both popped their heat sinks, and they kept moving.

"You're quick on your feet," Harry complimented Tali, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, if you hang around Shepard long enough, you have to be."

When Tali repeated Harry's earlier thoughts, he was reminded of what a low opinion everyone seemed to have regarding the probability of survival in any mission she undertook.

They made their way through another door, but had to duck as an Eclipse merc came flying screaming through the air, flying over their heads and impacting with the wall behind them with a very sickening crunch.

"Those... were my best troops!" came an angry voice from a raised platform above them, another Eclipse cowering in front of a very regal-looking, red-armored asari who was glowing with biotic power.

"Tell me what I need to know, and I will be gone from here," the asari, who Harry immediately recognized as Samara, said with a cold look on her face. "Where did you send her?"

"You think I'd betray her?" the Eclipse asked in disbelief. "She would hurt me in ways you can't imagine!"

"The name of the ship. Your life hangs on the answer, Lieutenant."

"You can kill me, but one of us will take you down, Justicar!"

"I can help you with that!" Harry called out, raising a hand to catch her attention.

Samara's head snapped toward the source of the voice, her eyes widening. The Eclipse took this opportunity to raise her pistol, pointing it at Samara. She didn't get the chance to squeeze the trigger, however, as Harry had raised his pistol and fired a plasma blast that blew the merc's head clean off her shoulders.

Samara spared the headless Eclipse only a passing glance, a tiny look of frustration in her gaze, before she jumped off the platform and approached Harry, who grinned at her.

"Samara!" he greeted happily, only to be served a biotics-powered punch to the noise, making him flinch and clutch at it with a groan.

"Blimey, woman, you still punch like a krogan headbutt, I see..."

"You have known where she is all this time, Harry?" Samara asked in a dangerous tone of voice. Well, Garrus and Tali probably couldn't hear the difference, but Harry could.

"If I did, I would have bloody informed you!" Harry barked, snapping his nose back into place and letting it heal. "I only found out a few days ago..."

"Where?"

"First, I have a request," Harry said, a serious look on his face. "I'm working with Commander Shepard at present. We're putting a team together to take down the Collectors."

"The Collectors are a worthy foe. I would relish testing myself against them. But you know my current objective, Harry."

"I hate to dangle a piece of meat in front of a hungry varren, Samara, but- Er, really, that's kind of amusing in most cases, but anyhow, we need you on the team. So I want to make a deal."

"A deal?"

"If you swear to help us see our mission through, I will help you with yours."

The skin where a human would have had eyebrows slowly rose in surprise as Samara regarded him.

"Are you asking me to swear my oath to you, Harry?"

"You've done it before."

"And I was almost forced to kill you."

"Things will be different this time. There are people around to, hm... keep me in line."

A semblence of a chuckle escaped Samara, and there was no mistaking the smirk on her face.

"Somehow I doubt that," she said. "But your cause seems just, for now. Very well."

Samara's eyes glowed for a moment, before she closed them and knelt before Harry.

"By the Code, I will serve you, Harry. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code."

Her body glowed with biotic energy for only a second, and then she got back to her feet. Over Harry's left shoulder, Garrus raised a hand.

"Can anyone clue me in as to what just happened?"

"The Third Oath of Subsumation," Harry explained. "She follows the orders of whoever she swears to. But when she's released, she'll kill me, or try to, if I make her do anything dishonorable. Like, say, you know, forcing her to provide a distraction by giving a turian a lap dance."

"That was... specific..." Tali commented, noting how Samara's cheeks colored ever-so-slightly.

"In any case, shall we go?" Samara said quickly, giving Harry a pointed look, though he just grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, let's be on our way. Hm... I wonder how Frank is doing..."

–

"Brother, please, we don't want to attract any more..." Aceso stopped speaking when both Jack and Frank tore through the enemies in the asari business woman Nassara Dantius' partially built business tower, shredding through them with biotics and blades respectively. "...attention..."

"HYAH!" Jack roared, blasting five Eclipse mercenaries out of a window to fall several hundred stories to the ground. "That's forty-eight!"

" _Kill-count at fifty-seven, meatbag!"_ Frank yelled back, before correcting himself after slicing the head off yet another mercenary. _"Correction: Fifty-eight!"_

–

"I'm sure he's having the time of his life," Garrus quipped, scratching at his scars with an uncomfortable look on his face. Tali leaned in toward him.

"Remind me again how these AI are supposed to be civilized?"

"So, Samara, wait 'till you see Shepard's ship!" Harry said, paying no heed to the conversation taking place behind him. "I know you like quiet places to meditate, so the observation deck would be perfect for you!"

Both Garrus and Tali stopped their conversation regarding bloodthirsty AI when they saw Samara, who was walking next to Harry, turn her head to give him a smile, a surprisingly affectionate look in her eyes.

"You certainly haven't changed, Harry."

–

 **Chapter completed! I hope you enjoyed it! Well, not much to say now. Usually, I give a bit of a teaser as to what's going to happen in the next chapter, but hm... I don't rightly know. I know some of the 'sub-plots' I'm going to implement, but I don't know in which order I want to do the rest of the missions. There will be at least one loyalty mission involved though. And with that said, please leave a review at the door!**

 **Peace,**

 **ZnK!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Would you look'it that! Another chapter so soon? Damn, I must be running a fever! Well, really, I just had some nice ideas for 'character development.' Or rather, developing feelings. In any case, I didn't get even the slightest case of writer's block, and a new chapter formed quickly, a good way to apologize for how long the last chapter took, in my opinion. Well, in any case, I hope you enjoy!**

–

A biotic push snapped an asari Eclipse mercenary's neck at the same time as two wrist-mounted blades burst out of her chest, killing her instantly. In front of her stood Jack, her hand having unleashed her biotic power, while Frank stood behind her with his blades buried in the asari's back.

"One hundred and eight!" both psychotics cried out triumphantly at the same time, before taking their focus off the merc to glare at each other.

" _This was my kill, meatsack,"_ Frank said, having long since stripped himself of his human disguise. Jack, never one to back down from a challenge, glared right back at him.

"Hey now, check that brain of yours, and you'll see I hit him first! That was my kill!"

" _It was mine!"_

"Mine!"

The two glared heatedly at each other, and it looked like a fight was about to break out, because Jack started glowing with biotic energy, while Frank pulled his wrist-blades out of the merc, and his nanobots shaped into his trademark shoulder-mounted minigun, which was pointed straight at the violent convict.

"Excuse me!" Aceso exclaimed, getting between the two. "I think we can declare this one a tie and split the kill-count, can we not?" she pleaded, pointing to the double doors they were standing in front of. "Undoubtedly, Nassara has some private security in her office that you can..." She paused for a moment to stare at the door, her eyes narrowing. Unlike her brother, she preferred to retain her human form.

She really hadn't enjoyed how both Frank and Jack had wanted to slaughtered the cowardly salarians they had encountered downstairs. But, as always, Aceso had managed to put a lid on Frank's bloodlust. That was why Harry had put her on his team, after all.

"Yes, there are three mercenaries on the other side of that door," she informed the two hot-headed combatants. "Perhaps... you can use them to settle your score?"

"Deal!" both of them exclaimed, before Frank approached the door to Nassara's office and kicked them so hard that they bent inwards. The two charges in, to see a well-dressed asari standing behind a desk, three Eclipse mercs behind her. No doubt the mercs had been listening to their comms, because they looked awfully nervous when they saw Jack and Frank.

"And who the hell are you?" Nassara asked, calm as can be.

Aceso wasn't the type to throw around the word 'hate' on the whim. But she hated people like this asari. People who thought they were untouchable because they had money to spend on bodyguards. She was actually inclined to let Jack and Frank go wild, but her personality won out in the end, and she bowed her head.

"Forgive us for slaughtering your hired help. We are here looking for someone," she spoke in her usual pleasant tone of voice.

"Then you should have asked for an appointment at the front desk," the asari growled, glaring at them.

Unbeknownst to her, a drell, a reptilian humanoid who very much looked like a cross between a lizard, a human, and an asari, dropped down from the ventilation shaft in the ceiling.

Within moments, one Eclipse had his neck snapped, another had his throat crushed, and the third was shot. Nassara only had time to spin around, attempting to attack the assassin with a blade, only to find her wrist caught and a gun pressed against her stomach.

A shot rang out, and the drell hugged the asari, laying her down on the desk. She was alive, but not for long. He placed her hands on her chest as she breathed her last breath, then closed his eyes and bowed his head as he clasped his hands together.

"So, this is the guy?" Jack asked, on edge. Natural, considering the ease with which the drell had disposed of the guards.

" _Efficient. I admire this fleshbag's assassination techniques,"_ Frank quipped.

"Thane Krios?" Aceso asked, approaching cautiously. The drell didn't raise his head, but his eyes opened.

"I apologize, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

"You'd pray for that bitch?" Jack asked, and only now did Thane look up at them, shaking his head.

"Not for her. For me," he told them. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction... chaos..." He walked around the desk and approached Aceso, tilting his head slightly. "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me. Well, here I am."

"If it were up to me, I would have preferred the stealthy route," Aceso said, that soft, pleasant smile back on her face. "But, given the company I keep..."

"I don't do stealth," Jack said simply, to which Frank nodded in agreement.

"But how did you know we were coming?" Aceso wanted to know.

"I didn't. Not until you marched in the front door and started shooting," Thane told her. "Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You were a valuable distraction."

"Glad to be of assistance..." Jack muttered. In all honesty, though, she didn't care too much that Thane had used them. It was a good opportunity to let loose, after all.

"In any case," Aceso said, giving Jack a pointed look to tell her to keep quiet. "We are here on orders from Commander Shepard of the Normandy. We have been asked to recruit you for a mission."

"Indeed?" Thane asked, glancing at her.

"Do you know of the Collectors?"

"By reputation."

"They are abducting human colonies. If you have heard of Freedom's Progress, you should know that was their work."

"I see..." Thane murmured, walking past Aceso to stand by the window, staring out at Illium.

"We are going to fight them."

This made Thane spin around to stare at her curiously.

"Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

"Our ship will succeed. And we have Commander Shepard."

"True enough, she has built a career on performing the impossible," he said, nodding as he closed his eyes. "This was to be my last job. I'm dying. Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."

Aceso's vision sifted through all the various visions at her disposal, and she tilted her head to the side.

"Kepral's Syndrome?" she asked, which made Thane perk up and look at her. "My father, if I inform him of this, is sure to be able to discover a cure, if you come with us."

"There is no cure."

"Then you haven't yet met my father."

Thane was quiet for a moment, then looked at her again.

"I will work for Shepard. No charge. There is no nobler cause to die for, in my opinion."

"Excellent!" Aceso exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement. The joy was shattered, however, when Jack let out a cry of outrage.

"Goddamn it! Now we can't settle the score!"

–

"This certainly is a pleasant view..."

Samara was sitting in the starboard observation room, choosing to sit on the floor rather than in any of the recliners or couches. She was sitting in a lotus position, her eyes closed as she meditated. Not too far from her sat Harry, his arms up on the backrest of his couch, a smoldering cigarette in his mouth as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Eh. A millennia or so later, the sight becomes commonplace," Harry commented, sighing. "The drawbacks of longevity, I suppose."

"Speaking of which, Garrus Vakarian asked if we really met two hundred years ago," Samara said, which made Harry chuckle.

"I was winging it. Once you've lived long enough, the centuries sort of blur together. How long has it been since we first met?"

"It was actually just one hundred years ago. You were the first human I ever met."

"Mostly because humans hadn't used the relay yet."

Samara now opened her eyes, glancing at him with an affectionate smile on her face. She studied every inch of his face, his usual bored expression, just like when she first met him. That had truly been an experience she would never forget. The technologically advanced human, a race that had never before been seen in Citadel space...

She was glad not all humans were like him, or all the races would have been conquered long ago. Hell, she was glad Harry himself had no desire to rule anything, because if he put some effort into it, he could do it with ease.

"So, how are Falere and Rila?" he asked suddenly, making Samara flinch in surprise, glancing away from him.

"I... did not think you knew about them..."

"I know more than you'd think," Harry said simply. "So?"

"I... have not contacted them for some time," Samara admitted, her gaze lowering itself to the floor. "My duties have kept me busy."

"Are you afraid of meeting them?" the scientist asked, which caused Samara to perk up and snap her head toward him.

"Me, afraid?"

"Because they're Ardat-Yakshi," Harry elaborated, now raising his head as well to look at her. "Three Ardat-Yakshi daughters... That sort of thing is sure to make you feel like _you're_ responsible."

Samara sighed. Finally, she got up from the floor and made her way over to the couch, sitting down next to Harry.

"Aren't I?" she asked, a rare tone of insecurity in her voice. She gave Harry a sorrowful look. "I have only ever had three children, Harry, and all of them have been born Ardat-Yakshi."

Ardat-Yakshi was a rare genetic condition in asari, specifically affecting the nervous system. During mating, the Ardat-Yakshi's nervous system completely overpowered and dominated that of her mate's, causing hemorrhaging in the victim's brain, and ultimately death in most cases. As a result, the Ardat-Yakshi also became smarter, stronger, and deadlier after each encounter. Harry had speculated that they possessed the ability to assimilate the life-force of their victims, and given the asari's natural biotic abilities, it was added to those skills, subconsciously channeling the energy into the brain and muscles.

Harry gave her a very complicated scientific theory on the condition, but Samara hadn't been able to properly understand it. There were a lot of complicated words in there, even by asari standards.

"Don't blame yourself, love," Harry said, and now his hand moved to place itself on her shoulder. "It's just a genetic crap shoot. You just rolled poorly. But hey, at least two of your daughters inherited their mother's responsible nature."

They sat in silence for a while, before Samara leaned against him. She was acting surprisingly shyly, a trait she realized she only seemed to show around Harry. Usually, a man like him wouldn't be attractive to her at all, yet there was just something about him. Maybe he made her remember her adventurous Maiden years, or maybe he was just genuinelly attractive to her. She honestly believed it was the latter, or both. Most likely both.

"Do you think... I mean, if we had...?"

"No," Harry answered immediately. "I doubt it. But then, you never can tell, can you?"

"True enough." Samara sighed, snuggling back against Harry's side, closing her eyes and relaxing for the first time in years. "We did have a good time, though, did we not?"

Harry, being his usual self, shrugged.

"We've had about eighty-seven percent of a good time," he said, which made Samara look up and give him an annoyed look. "What? I had to take into account that you did through me out a window to fall thirty stories."

"I had never seen a human before, and you were in the middle of a smuggling ring. And to be fair, you did break my arms in retaliation."

"Alright, then ninety-seven percent."

Samara gave him another glare, but there was no fire in it. More like exasperated amusement.

"Leave it to Harry Potter to ruin a romantic moment..."

–

There had been quite a lot of action, but eventually, Shepard had managed to help Miranda get her sister to safety, despite the treachery of Miranda's long-time friend Niket, who had agreed to help Eclipse mercenaries bring Oriana to her father. Of course, Miranda couldn't have that, and the team had made quick work of the mercs. Shepard even managed to get Miranda to go talk to her sister.

All-in-all, things were good. Especially when one considered the fact that Thane Krios had very nearly not agreed to go with them on this mission, if not for the timely intervention of Aceso. Really, it was dangerous to have Jack and Frank on the same team. Reports said that the top eight floors of the main Dantius tower were going to need remodelling after they were done wiping out anyone in their path. The final kill-count was apparently declared a draw after neither of the two could decide which of them got the last kill, considering they killed the merc at the same time.

Yet, that wasn't what was on Shepard's mind at the moment, strangely enough. What was strange wasn't even that Samara hadn't even come to the briefing room to introduce herself. What was strange was that she was at the starboard observation room with Harry! Not only that, but they'd both been there ever since they arrived, from what EDI told her. Neither of them had come out...

There was a strange feeling in her chest. From questioning Garrus and Tali, their first impressions had been that there was history between Harry and Samara. They had acted like friends, and while neither teammates could get a read on Harry, there had been no mistaking the affectionate look in Samara's eyes on their part.

Had they...?

No, they couldn't have!

But then, judging from his call to Tevos, he was fairly partial to the asari... Shepard's eyes narrowed as she walked through the Normandy, huffing to herself.

Why the hell was she feeling like there was a beast in her chest trying to claw its way out and rip Samara's head off her shoulders? She hadn't even felt that about Kaiden when she'd first started getting feelings for him... She could feel her cheeks burn at the very thought of Harry doing... _things_... with Samara...

"Shepard?"

The Commander blinked and stopped in her tracks, looking over to see Garrus standing there, his arms crossed as he looked at her curiously.

"Something on your mind?" the turian asked.

"What? No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, even when we were chasing after Saren, you weren't pacing around this much."

"I wasn't pacing..."

"Then how do you explain wandering through the mess eighteen times?" Garrus quipped, and Shepard could feel herself flushing.

"I was just... contemplating..."

"Care to fill me in?"

Shepard took a deep breath. She was the leader of this group. She was supposed to be the tough, hard Commander who didn't get emotionally involved. Yet, Garrus was her friend, one of her best and oldest friends. Maybe she could trust him with this?

"Do you think there is... something going on? Between Harry and Samara?"

Garrus hummed to himself, rubbing his mandibles with a thoughtful look on his face.

"They sure know each other. They're friends at the very least, from what I could see... Why do you...?" Garrus trailed off as he looked up at Shepard, whose cheeks were still kind of red, almost matching her hair. "No... You...? And Harry?"

"No!" Shepard barked immediately. "No, no... No! I'm not... I mean, it's..."

"Shepard," Garrus interrupted Shepard's sputtering. "Usually, you're unreadable. But now, you're being like an open book."

Shepard made to argue, but then she sighed, gesturing for Garrus to follow her. They went into the portside observation room, and sat down on the couch in there.

"I don't know..." she admitted, frowning. "I mean, he's rough, and basically, he's sort of a psycho in many regards, but when it counts... he's a good guy. Something is kinda... I don't know how to describe it..."

"Vibrations in your chest?"

Shepard perked up and gave Garrus a surprised look. If he was capable of it, Shepard was sure that Garrus was smirking at her.

"You're not the first one to get feelings like that."

"You too?"

"There may have been one or two females in my life..." Garrus admitted, coughing into his fist to hide his embarrassment. "Of course, the career was more important. Didn't really commit, so my advice is limited, you know? Still, you're Commander Shepard."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shepard asked, which made Garrus chuckle.

"Well, if you want something, you'll get it. I mean, you wanted to go after Saren, and no matter who opposed, you went after him. You want to go after the Collectors, you're going after him. You want to go after Harry..."

"I don't want to _go after_ him..."

"Then why are you standing up?"

Shepard blinked when she realized that she had actually risen from the couch. What was she intending to do just now? She shot Garrus a dirty look, only to get a laugh in response.

"You know, you can go to him if you want."

Shepard made to argue, but then thought better of it. Why shouldn't she, after all? If Commander Shepard wanted something, she was damn sure going to get it! Giving a small harrumph, she gave Garrus a last withering glare, before leaving the observation room, leaving an amused turian behind.

"Ah, budding romances... Is there anything more sickeningly sweet?" he said to himself.

"I know, right?"

Garrus was completely unprepared for the resident kleptomaniac Kasumi to drop her cloak sitting right next to him. The result was him giving a very un-turian-like yelp and falling off the couch, scrambling away from her.

"K-Kasumi, don't do that!" he barked, clutching at his chest.

Meanwhile, Commander Shepard was making her way toward the starboard observation room. The doors hissed open, and she was treated to the sight of Harry and Samara sitting on a couch with their backs toward the door. The asari was leaning again Harry in a very affectionate manner, and once more, Shepard found that beast inside her trying to claw its way out. She could even feel a muscle under her right eye twitch in slight annoyance.

She had no idea Harry could be that close to anyone but his AI...

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, getting the attention of the two people in the room. Harry leaned his head back to look at her, his half-smoked dangling from his mouth.

"Oh, hey, Shepard! How did your mission go?"

Shepard swallowed in an effort not to growl when she saw Samara lean into Harry further in order to turn her head to look at her.

"It went well, as did Group B's. That's actually why I came. Well, I came to greet Samara, but I also need you to take a look at Thane. He has Kepral's Syndrome."

"Oh, really?" Harry asked, an excited look entering his eye as he got off the couch, just as Shepard had hoped he would. "Fascinating! I'll go have a look-see, shall I?"

Shepard watched as Harry gave Samara a smile and a pat on the shoulder, before leaving the room. She waited for a moment, now watching as Samara also got off the couch to sit on the floor in a meditative position, facing the window.

"Samara? I'm Commander Shepard."

"So I gathered. I have heard of you," Samara said, not looking back. Shepard frowned and made her way over to sit down across from her.

"I'm glad to have you on board," Shepard said, and she surprised herself when she realized that a small part of her felt like she was lying. "Your file spoke highly of you as a powerful biotic and expert with standard weapons."

"A few centuries of life certainly teaches you a few things," Samara said, opening her eyes to look at her. "Otherwise, I doubt I'd be alive right now."

Shepard nodded slowly, feeling a bit uncomfortable. She cleared her throat.

"So, you know Harry?"

"Harry was the first human I ever met," Samara explained. "Long before humanity discovered the relays, he was already exploring the stars. Unbeknownst to the rest of humanity, of course. After an altercation, we befriended one another, and he helped me try to track down a fugutive. Our mission failed, but we parted as..." Samara paused to hum quietly to herself, "...friends."

"Friends?" Shepard prodeed, which got her a curious look from Samara.

"Yes, friends. Is there a problem, Shepard?"

"No!" Shepard said quickly. "No problem. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that Harry can make friends."

"Certainly, he can be a handful, but there was something about him that I found appealing enough that I kept him around. Contrary what I had believed, I did not end up regretting that decision."

"You look close," Shepard commented, continuing to prod carefully. Samara, however, gave her a somewhat amused look.

"We were, once. Now, I'm not so sure. Well, time will tell."

Shepard hated this feeling. When Samara had said those words, Shepard had wanted to snap at her... What the hell was wrong with here lately?

"Hm," she hummed finally after a moment of silence. "I should go."

Meanwhile, Thane Krios considered himself a skillful assassin. He could sneak up on anyone, and no one could sneak up on him. Or so he thought... This was the first time meeting Harry Potter, and also the moment he realized that Harry Potter was not like other people.

"Hello!"

Thane, who had made the life-support chamber his room, had been meditating at his desk, when a voice suddenly sounded right next to his right ear, making him flinch slightly at being so caught off-guard. He shot to his feet, his hand instinctively reaching for his pistol, but the newcomer, a scarred, stitched-up human wearing a lab coat, raised his hands defensively, to show he meant no harm.

"Woah, now," the man said, grinning slightly at the sight of Thane's impressive reflexes. "Sorry for sneaking up on you like that- Well, not really, always fun to sneak up on a hanar-trained drell, but still, apologies."

"Who are you?" Thane asked suspiciously.

"Dr. Harry Potter, at your service," the man introduced. "You must be Thane Krios, then? My daughter, Aceso, informed me that you've been struck by Kepral's Syndrome. I'd like to give you a brief once-over and see if I can figure out a cure while Joker's cure is being synthesized."

"I can assure you, I've seen the best physicians in the galaxy, and they assure me that no cure can be found."

"You mean the hanar?" Harry asked with a scoff as he waved Thane off, a disgusted look on his face as though the hanar weren't even worthy of having him talk about them. "They would rather focus on making the next batch of soldiers immune rather than focus on the issue at hand."

"Do you think you could do better?" Thane asked, which made Harry grin.

"I _know_ I can. Adrian, do a scan."

"Coming right up, dad!"

Thane blinked in surprise when a hologram of a young boy materialized next to Harry's head.

AI... That was a surprise...

–

The doors to the medical bay hissed open. Dr. Chakwas was currently having lunch, so Harry was alone, save for Samara stepping through the door. She was looking around at the various equipment hard at work. She had never been much for the more technological aspects of her race's progress. Computers and complicated equipment wasn't much for her. A gun or a biotic push was more her schtick.

"Harry," she spoke, making the scientist perk up. He had been hunched over a microscope, and he turned to her, a smile appearing on his face.

"Samara. Thought you'd still be meditating."

"I was, but my mind drifted to your promise," Samara said, her expression turning serious as she approached Harry. "You know where Morinth is. You promised to tell me."

"I did, didn't I?" Harry said, lighting a cigarette and leaning back against his desk. "Don't worry, I've already told Joker to set the course for Omega. My bugs have told me that's where your daughter is."

Samara sighed, rubbing her face. She looked sort of reluctant, almost disappointed that Harry had actual information for her.

"I will be needing your help, Harry," she said, looking up at him. "I cannot get close to Morinth. You, however, have a reputation on Omega. Morinth has an attraction to the dangerous kind, the hedonists."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Harry quipped with a grin. "Isn't that a trait she got from her mother?"

Samara gave him a dirty look, but it wasn't like she could refute him. Truly, that was one of the reasons why she had been attracted to him. He was the complete opposite of her Code. Do whatever you want, when you want, however you want. That was who Harry Potter was. He wasn't held down by rules or laws. He followed his heart, and even though some of his actions may have been deeply dishonorable, they weren't such in his eyes. His goals were research and personal satisfaction, and he stuck to it, no matter how much someone might try to convince him to change. He was his own person.

Samara actually envied him at times.

Before she could contemplate further, however, Harry gave a laugh, a very amused one. The kind that Samara had learned to recognze as one that meant that he was going to cause some chaos, or at the very least piss someone off.

"You seem happy," she commented, which made Harry grin wider.

"Oh, I am. I just realized that I'm going to have to pay Aria a little visit..."

–

Poor, poor Grizz, always drawing the short straw. As with every time Harry Potter entered Afterlife, he had tried to stop him from reaching Aria (one would think he'd have learned by now), and yet again he had been knocked out by a lightning-fast punch to the face.

Harry, accompanied by Samara, headed up the stairs, and found Aria sitting in her usual spot on the couch. As soon as she saw him, her eyes narrowed, and all three guards up on the platform pulled their weapons and aimed them at Harry, who grinned, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Hello, Aria," he greeted, not caring in the slightest about the weapons currently trained on his head, as he walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. Samara, following his lead, sat down as well, although some distance away from them.

"Potter..." Aria greeted with a glare. "What are you doing here? I thought Shepard took you away from Omega?"

"Oh, my friend and I are just here looking for someone, and I was hoping an old friend like you could help me find her."

"Old friend, you say?" Aria quipped, watching Harry's friendly grin. He was lounging as though he was _actually_ meeting an old friend, not talking to an enemy at gun-point. Then again, Harry didn't share the same animosity toward Aria as she did toward him. "And just who are you looking for?"

"An Ardat-Yakshi," Harry explained, making Aria's 'eyebrows' shoot up in surprise.

"I knew it..." she muttered, forgetting about the fact that her hated enemy was sitting right next to her for a moment. "Nothing leaves a body quite so... empty... as an Ardat-Yakshi does."

"You haven't taken steps to kill her?" Samara asked. Aria just gave her a look of amusement.

"Why would I? She hasn't tried to seduce me," she quipped. "Her last victim was a young girl. Pretty thing. Lived in the tenements near here. That's where I'd start looking."

"Bollocks," Harry said immediately. "You can't even try to convince me that you don't know every single movement made on Omega. Where is she? Or rather, where are her hunting grounds?"

A scoff of amusement escaped Aria, and she gave Harry a scathing look.

"Nothing escapes you, does it?" she asked, huffing slightly in annoyance. "Rumor has it, she frequents Afterlife's VIP section. I'm sure you'd find her there. If you drop Jaruut's name to the bouncer, he will let you in."

"Thank you, Aria," Harry said with another grin, patting the asari on the shoulder. "I always knew you had a soft spot for me."

Aria was not amused. Indeed, she gave Harry a glare so heated that he thought for a second that he might actually catch fire for a second.

"All I want is for you to kill this Ardat-Yakshi and get the hell off my rock, Potter!" she hissed. "I have no interest in your personal business."

Harry rose from the couch, and so did Samara. The mad scientist nodded his head to Aria (had to show some respect, after all), before leaving. He knew very well how much Aria disliked him, though she disliked Ardat-Yakshi even more. It was a foregone conclusion that she would help him.

"So, I guess you want to use me as bait?" Harry asked, glancing at Samara with a raised eyebrow as they left the club, heading down an alleyway toward the stairs that would lead to the VIP section.

"I do," Samara said, nodding. "You embody most of what attracts Morinth. I will be staying at a safe distance. If she so much as catches sight of me, she will escape, and we cannot storm her dwelling. She surely has a hundred escape routes prepared for such an occasion."

"So, I draw attention, get her to bring me back to her place, you stalk us, and then you strike?" Harry assumed, to which Samara nodded.

"Yes. However, Harry..." She stopped suddenly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "She will be planning to inflict great horrors on your. If you are not careful, you will want her to."

"Samara," Harry said, smirking at her. "She won't hold any sway over me. Only one asari holds a place in my heart and mind."

Samara was stunned by this statement. She stood there, staring at Harry as he started walking away, his hands in his pockets. Her heart was beating stronger than ever before.

Even when they had joined the last time, she hadn't felt this way. He was rough, and he was violent, hedonistic, yet that look in his eye, that smirk on his face... It resonated with something within her...

She was still standing there kind of stunned when she felt Harry flicking her forehead.

"So, come on, let's get this over with."

"Harry," Samara stopped him as he started walking again. "Thank you. I do not share this burden easily, and you are the only soul I can imagine sharing it with."

Harry smiled. That rare, genuine smile that he only showed those closest to him, and he nodded.

"Anything for you, love," he said, but then had to ruin the moment as usual. "Of course, thise would be a more romantic if I weren't constantly reminded of you punching me on the nose when we met."

–

Commander Shepard was frustrated. If there was a mission to be done, _she_ would be in charge of it! She didn't really mind the fact that Harry had set a course for Omega without informing her. She didn't even mind that he left the ship to do something, but when she found out he and _Samara_ had left together, consider her pet peeved something fierce...

What were they doing on Omega, anyway? Harry had just said that they needed to take care of some personal business, but that didn't tell Shepard much! For all she knew, that personal business might have been more... personal... than one might think!

And that bugged her.

So, Shepard did what she thought was the best thing to do: Gossip.

She decided that the best person to gossip with would be Tali'Zorah, because why not? Unlike Garrus, she wouldn't pick up on her infatuation quite as easily, and she was sure not to blab about it to everyone after a few drinks.

She didn't think, however, that approaching Tali would make her grateful to Harry Potter. Because as she approached her, the quarian was hunched over a console, muttering curses to herself. She really did have a hard time figuring out how to work the new drive core and hyperdrive.

"Tali, how-" This was where the gratefulness came in. Because Tali yelped at Shepard sneaking up on her, spinning around and slugging her in the face. If it hadn't been for the PPPF Harry had injected her with, Shepard was sure that hit could have caused some damage.

"S-Shepard?" Tali breathed, clutching at her heart. "I-I'm so sorry! I was busy, and you sneaked up on me, and-"

"It's fine, Tali," Shepard interrupted the sputtering quarian, holding up a hand while the other massaged her cheek. "Hell of a swing you have, though. Didn't think you had it in you."

"Again, sorry..." Tali mumbled. "I was just distracted going through the diagnostics on the new hyperdrive, but it's so far over my head..."

"I take it Harry's upgrades are far more complicated than you're used to?"

"Have you seen this?" Tali asked as she gestured for the holographic screen above the console. "He doesn't work with mass effect technology in the slightest! It's like his technology is from a whole other world!"

Shepard struggled to keep her mouth shut, realizing just how true that was.

"Yeah, he sure is something, huh?" she said instead, nodding. The duo went into the drive core for privacy, gazing down at he trio of Zero-Point Modules. She still couldn't wrap her head around how crystals could carry energy, but still...

"The previous drive-core had specific power-distribution intended for specific areas of the ship," Tali said, also staring down at the ZPM's. "This new system encompasses the entire ship, and focuses on diverting power to the various areas at will. For example, if the shields are short on power, you can theoretically draw all the power from the hyperdrive and divert it to the shields."

The sound of heavy boots thumping against steel was heard behind them, making them turn around and notice Jack, for once leaving her dwelling, approaching them.

"I heard the mad doctor's name," Jack said as she walked up to them, grinning. "You ladies gossiping? I'm kinda up for that."

"We weren't... gossiping!" Tali protested, sounding almost appalled at the notion. "We were just..."

"Talking about him?" Jack finished for her. "I think that counts as gossip. Well, I'm all for it. Any guy who can create someone like Frank is enough to catch my interest."

"Did you ever settle your tie?" Shepard asked, which made Jack bark a laugh.

"Yeah. Knife-throwing. He won, but he assured me I'll be getting a rematch."

"You and Frank sure took to each other quickly."

"He's a great killer."

Shepard rolled her eyes. Leave it to Jack to only focus on such a trait... She didn't consider Frank's personality, his dislike toward organics, nor his extreme loyalty to Harry. No, she just focused on his ability to kill...

"But back to the topic," Jack said, hopping up to sit on the railing of the platform holding the console to control the hyperdrive. She was completely uncaring of the long drop below her. "How about that mad doc, huh?"

"Somehow, adding a third woman to the group makes it truly feel like gossip..." Shepard muttered, scratching her head.

"So, what's this I hear about the Commander having the hots for our resident maniac?"

Shepard hadn't been prepared for that, so she could be forgiven for choking on her own spit, sputtering incoherently as he cheeks flushed.

 _Damn you, Garrus! Damn you to the lowest circle of hell!_

"Oh, really?" Tali asked, her voice holding a tone of amusement.

"Garrus is full of lies," Shepard lied, narrowing her eyes. "We're going to have words later..."

–

A thug was knocked to the ground, the last of five. Harry had picked the fight, to be honest, although not physically. Really, turians were way too sensitive about being compared to birds. Sure, someone claiming they had the brain of a bird may have been a bit more than they could handle, but still... No need to whack Harry with a bottle.

The krogan had been the most annoying. Right after the bottle smashed against Harry's head, the krogan had tried beating the crap out of him. Of course, Harry would have none of that.

"Anyone else?" he asked, looking around at the other people at the bar. They all shied away from him, allowing him to focus on his drink in peace. He shook his head. Omega was supposed to be the hangout of the worst criminals in the universe. Yet there they were, cowering like a child under the glare of their parent.

How was he supposed to lure his target out if he couldn't attract enough-

"My name is Morinth."

Harry blinked in surprise and looked over his shoulder to see a black-clad asari approaching him, smirking. There was no doubt this was Samara's daughter. She looked exactly like her. Only the voice was different.

"I've been watching you," the asari contined. "You're the most interesting person in this place. I've got a booth over there in the shadows. Buy me a drink and come sit with me?"

Harry was at a bit of a loss. Should he play hard to get, or should he just comply? If he was too friendly, too eager, that would no doubt bore her. Yet, if he acted too reluctant, that might also bore her...

"Sure," Harry said finally, grinning at her.

That was how he found himself sitting in Morinth's private booth. She was sitting across from him, staring at him. She was studying him, taking in every detail of his face, his hair, his state of dress...

"Interesting," she spoke finally after several minutes of silence. "I've never seen a human quite like you."

"And you'll never see on like me ever again," Harry said confidently. "They don't make 'em like me anymore."

"I can tell," Morinth said, smiling, before looking around the club, taking in the beat of the music, relishing in the sounds, and the sight of the people dancing. "You know, some nights I come here and there's no one interesting to talk to. Some nights, there's just one person. Tonight it's you. Why is that?"

"Maybe you just feel attracted to the weird type?" Harry suggested, which made Morinth laugh.

"The word on my mind was 'dangerous,' but 'weird' works as well."

"How about weird _and_ dangerous?"

Morinth's smile widened.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" she asked, to which Harry raised an eyebrow. "I've heard the talk. Aria hates you. You come into Afterlife and do what you want whenever you want it. That sort of speaks to me. To the darkest places in me." She paused for a moment. "I heard you had left, though. What brings you back?"

"Felt like it," Harry said with a shrug. "Figured I'd get a stiff drink, then go bug Aria for a while, remind her to keep her guard up."

"Though that means you've been away from here. Been all over the galaxy?"

"Yes. Longer than you'd think."

"When I travel, I find myself drawn to dark, dangerous places."

"I don't," Harry admitted, surprising Morinth, before he explained, "The places I go to aren't dangerous until I get there."

This made Morinth laugh.

"True enough, your reputation speaks of you as a loose cannon." She paused, considering for a moment, then smirked at him.

"Do you want to get out of here? My apartment is nearby, and I want you alone."

That was how Harry found himself in the apartment of Samara's renegade daughter's apartment. Her wall had few decorations, only a sword and an old rifle. Nearby was a bottle of the drug Hallex, and back near the kitchen was a huge stone statue of a krogan. Harry, however, didn't focus on any of that. Instead, he was sitting on the couch with Morinth, who was smiling at him.

"I love clubs," she told him. "People, movement, heat. I can still hear the bass, like the drums of a great hunt, out for your blood. But here, it's muted, and you're safe. Is that what you want, Harry?"

"Safety's a bit of a lie, inn'it?" Harry asked, sparking a cig with a grin. "Many people feel safe, then they die."

"It's true, we're never safe," Morinth agreed. "I've never understood the fascination with safety. Some of us choose differently." She rose from her seat and moved over, plopping herself down in Harry's lap, a seductive smile on her face. "Independence over submission. I think we share that, you and I."

"Maybe so, but at least I don't kill the people I hang around."

This statement made Morinth's eyes widen.

"Why do you say that I've killed? What do you know? Let's stop playing games." She moved off his lap and sat down next to him. For a moment, there was silence as she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were all black, as though they had been covered in a layer of black ink. "Look into my eyes and tell me you want me. Tell me you'd kill for me. Anything I want."

He could feel her presence trying to burrow its way into his head, but it was laughably weak. He had encountered the best Legilimens in the world, and even withstood attacks from Wraith queens. There was no way her mind was touching his.

"Ruh-roh," he spoke in his best Scooby Doo impression. "Looks like mind games aren't working here."

"But you... who are you?" Morinth's eyes changed back, and she blinked in confusion.

"There's only one asari who has a place in my mind," Harry told her, making her eyes widen.

"Oh, no... I see what's going on. The bitch herself found a little helper..."

As if on cue, Samara chose that moment to walk into the apartment, her body glowing with biotic energy. By Jove, she looked majestic in that form.

"Morinth!" Samara hissed, sending out a biotic field that sent the Ardat-Yakshi flying into the reinforced window with enough force to crack it.

"Mother!" Morinth hissed right back, which made Samara twitch.

"Do not call me that!"

"I can't choose to stop being your daughter... mother!"

"You made your choice long ago!"

"What choice?!" Morinth now sent out a biotic pulse, releasing her from Samara's hold. "My only crime was being born with the gifts you gave me!"

She levitated a piece of furniture and made to throw it at Samara, only to found it caught in mid-flight by Harry, who set it down. On the floor, brushing some dust off the previously airborne recliner.

"Enough, Morinth!" Samara barked, blasting her daughter off her feet. Morinth, however, was quick to get back on her feet, and the two were locked in a biotic power-struggle.

"I am the genetic destiny of the asari. But they are not ready to reveal this, so I must die!"

"You are a disease to be purged, nothing more!"

Morinth was incredibly surprise when she felt a hand close around her wrist. For some reason, there was some sort of energy flowing through her body, something that seemed to counteract her biotic abilities, the glow around her body slowly dying down.

"You've had a good run, Morinth, but it ends here," Harry said simply.

Morinth didn't even have time to reply before another blast from Samara knocked her off her feet. Samara stalked toward her, and Morinth tried to crawl away, but her back hit the recliner she had previously thrown at her mother, leaving her at the justicar's mercy.

Samara straddled her and grabbed her throat with one hand, while the other clenched into a fist.

"Fine peace in the embrace of the goddess."

Harry watched (he couldn't look away) as Samara hit Morinth with a biotics-powered punch that packed enough force to snap her neck, killing her. He felt that Samara shouldn't have to be the only one with this memory burned into their brain.

Her job done, Samara got up and slowly backed away from Morinth's corpse. Without looking at Harry, she said, "I am ready to leave this place and get on with my life. Are you ready to go as well?"

"That can't have been easy," Harry spoke, ignoring the question. Now Samara turned to him fully, and he could see the sorrow in her eyes.

"Harry, what do you think I will say? What can I say? I just killed the bravest and smartest of my daughters. There are no words."

"There doesn't need to be."

Harry always found new ways to surprise the asari justicar. Samara's eyes widened when he closed the distance between them and embraced her, hugging her tightly. Usually, her justicar reserve would have kept her stoic and uncaring, but when it was him...

Slowly, her arms snaked their ways around him, and she returned the hug. No words needed to be spoken. They said enough through their tight embrace.

Yes, just like old times...

–

 **Chapter completed! Don't know what to say here, other than that I love you all, and I hope to see your reviews! Take care, all!**

 **Peace,**

 **ZnK!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Well hello! Over a year it's been! Sorry, guys, always with the excuses, but battling depression doesn't exactly leave you with much inspiration. And whatever inspiration I have gotten this last year has mostly gone into writing my very own original novel. But I was watching some Mass Effect gameplay on YouTube the other day and got an urge to work on this. I didn't stop at the usual chapter length, either. I felt you guys deserved something extra for being so patient with me.**

 **Also, I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up. Hopefully this inspiration sticks, and I'll be able to crank at least one more chapter out before my birthday.**

 **Anyway, enjoy this very, very, very late chapter!**

–

Harry didn't like this. He should have been happy. The cure for Joker's brittle-bone disease had been synthesized, he got plenty of praise from Mordin, and there was talk about going back to Illium to help Liara T'Soni find the Shadow Broker. He should have been ecstatic.

Yet, he wasn't.

Samara had been too quiet since they came back from Omega. It wasn't too much of a surprise, really. She had just killed her own daughter. It was natural that she would be upset about it. Unfortunately, Harry wasn't the greatest at comforting people, so he was feeling sort of stumped. A normal loss, sure, he'd offer his own opinion on the topic of death, but this was a new scenario...

"You look tired."

Harry, sitting in the mess and picking at his food, looked up to see Shepard sitting down across from him. She had been sticking close to him lately, he'd noticed. In any case, he nodded.

"Yeah, it's Samara," he told her, noticing how Shepard's expression somewhat hardened.

"What about her?"

"She just killed her own daughter, and I have no idea how to comfort her," Harry explained.

Shepard had been smiling, though it seemed a bit colder than usual, but that smile dropped as soon as he said that.

"Well, maybe she just needs some time alone?"

"Perhaps so. And maybe I'm not the best choice when it comes to this. I did bring Morinth's corpse back to the ship for study..." Harry muttered, crossing his arms. "While it will be useful in treating the Ardat-Yakshi condition, maybe getting comforted by the man studying her daughter's corpse isn't what she needs right now."

"You can cure the condition?" Shepard asked in surprise.

"Most likely. I have the equipment I need, and for the first time in my life, I have an actual Ardat-Yakshi to study."

"You're looking conflicted."

"True enough," Harry said, leaning back and lighting a cigarette. He had completely given up trying to eat anything. "This is a new feeling for me. I'm not good with these things. The scientist in me is begging for me to study every aspect of Morinth's body, yet some other part of me is telling me not to insult Samara by treating her daughter as a lab rat..." Then he grinned. "Seriously, though, an actual Ardat-Yakshi on my operating table! Damn, if this isn't the greatest study I've ever performed!"

And, naturally, Harry's personality did a one-eighty. Suddenly he was a scientist again, pouring over the data he had received from examining Morinth's corpse. Shepard had to smile as she watched him pulling back his sleeve to reveal his PAD, a holographic screen flickering into view and showing a large amount of text. It was difficult for Shepard to read it, since she was on the other side of the screen, but judging from the excited look on Harry's face, it contained some interesting data.

Shepard felt like taking his mind off of Samara, because she knew that he was forcing himself to focus solely on the data in order to not think too much.

"I hear you've been working on curing Joker's brittle-bone disease?" she asked, which made Harry close down his hologram and look at her.

"Yeah, it's finished synthesizing. Just need to wait for some downtime so I can give it to him. He will need to be lying down for at least five hours in order for the serum to take effect. Can't do that when he's piloting the ship."

"Can't you just let Aceso take the controls for a moment?"

Harry's deadpan look actually surprised her.

"Joker is the Normandy's pilot, period. Aceso and EDI can assist, but he's ultimately the only one who sits in that chair."

"Same old Harry, then," Shepard said, a smile appearing on her face. "Always surprising me with some new emotion or belief."

"I like to be random."

–

"Seriously?"

The Normandy had made its way to the Citadel, where they had docked for some downtime. Shepard felt that the crew could use some relaxation as well, and Joker needed his serum. That was why the rest of the ship was mostly empty, save for Harry and Joker. Joker was laying on a cot in the medical bay with Harry standing over him.

"Everyone gets shore-leave, and I have to lie still for five hours?" Joker continued, giving Harry a small glare.

"A _minimum_ of five hours," Harry clarified, loading up an injector with his newly synthesized serum. "But hey, if you want to leave the ship and break a leg going up a flight of stairs, be my guest."

The mad scientist made a gesture for the door, and Joker frowned. He gave Harry a glare, but remained where he was.

"So, what does that soup do?"

"This serum is an off-shoot to the PPPF-02 serum. It won't give you super strength or anything of the sort, but it will be enhancing your bones. To be specific, it will break your bones down one square-inch at a time, and then rebuild them even stronger. It will also be enhancing your musculature to compensate for the lack of density built up during your life."

Without warning, Harry stuck Joker in the neck with the needle and injected the serum. Joker could feel something warm spreading through his veins, but it wasn't really unpleasant. In fact, in this cool medical bay, it was actually a bit comforting.

"Hm," Harry hummed as he looked at the injector, rubbing his chin. "Maybe I should have warned you beforehand that you will be experiencing some extreme aching in your bones during the rebuilding process...?"

"Wait, what?!" Joker barked, making to get up, but Harry stopped him, putting a hand on his chest and holding him down.

"Now, now, don't break anything. Aceso, make some straps, will you?"

Before Joker could do anything, nanobots came to life from under the cot, forming metal restraints that wrapped themselves around his wrists, ankles, chest, and head.

"Relax, Joker, I can give you a painkiller if it becomes too much," Harry assured the nervous pilot, before walking off, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "In the meantime, I have experiments to run."

Meanwhile, Shepard was in the Citadel, staring down at the Presidium. Much of it was still being repaired, even after two years. The damage done by Sovereign had been great. It just served to remind Shepard how dangerous it would be if a whole army of Reapers were to show up.

"Commander Shepard?"

The new voice made Shepard blink. She knew the voice well. She was just surprised to hear it speaking to her so spontaneously. Shepard turned around and, indeed, found the asari Councilor Tevos standing there, giving her a look that was all-business.

"Councilor," Shepard greeted. "I thought the Council wouldn't have anything to do with me while I worked in the Terminus System?"

"We wouldn't have anything to do with you while you were working with _Cerberus_ ," Tevos corrected, a smile appearing on her face. "But then, your ship's flag has changed, has it not? I hear it's even getting a new paint job?"

"A what?" Shepard asked, her eyes widening. "Wait, since when?"

"Ah," Tevos said with a nod of understanding. "It's Harry's work, then. In fact, he is the reason why I came here." She reached out, and now Shepard saw a datapad in her hand. "Some information for Harry. Tell him that the password is the same as it's always been. He'll know what that means."

"What kind of information is it?" Shepard asked, taking the datapad and inspecting it curiously.

"I'm sure he'll tell you anyway, so I don't see any harm in telling you," Tevos said. "I believe you, Shepard, regarding the Reapers. I can't take any real action to defend against them, but I can ensure that some precautions are taken. That pad contains all the information on the steps I have taken to at the very least stop the Collectors from entering Council space."

"Thank you," Shepard said, nodding. "May I ask, Councilor, how do you know Harry?"

"He caught my interest quite some time ago, and I endeavored to get to know him better," Tevos explained. "I don't like having someone around who I know nothing about. Eventually, word of his achievements had spread far enough that the Council actually considered making him the first human Spectre."

This made Shepard's eyes widen in surprise. Harry had been considered as a Spectre candidate? Then again, with his skills and his brains, of course the Council would have wanted him on their side.

"I thought Anderson was the first human to be considered?"

"Yes, at Harry's request. I have never seen someone turn down such a position. Now _that_ got me very interested. When he recommended Councilor Anderson, I decided to get to know him better. We had dinner a few times, and I'd like to believe we became friends. One never knows with Harry, though. In any case, he had, as you no doubt know, a bit of a falling-out with the Council soon after, and was never heard from again. I received a few messages here and there, but it wasn't much. I'm glad he's back."

It was comforting to see that Tevos considered Harry only a friend. She didn't have that look in her eye that Samara did when speaking about Harry.

"So, what's this about the Normandy getting a paint job?"

"It's speculation, but perhaps Harry thought that the Cerberus colors wouldn't be beneficial to your cause, now that you've changed your flag," Tevos mused.

"Dr. Potter always was the kind of man whose actions you never could predict." Shepard recognized the voice immediately, her eyes widening when she saw Councilor David Anderson approaching them, a smile on his face as he held out a hand for Shepard to shake, which she took immediately. "Damn good seeing you again, Shepard."

"Likewise, Anderson," Shepard said with a nod. "You know Harry well? He did recommend you as a Spectre candidate, after all."

"I think I know him about as well as anyone can say they know Harry Potter. He always was a strange man to be around. I remember when I served on the ship he had been assigned to. We were escorting an Admiral to the Citadel, but Harry took no orders from him. Whenever the Admiral demanded something, Harry gave him a chewing out something fierce."

"Yeah, from what I've heard, they still have his quotes scribbled down in the bathroom stalls of the Academy," Shepard said, smiling fondly.

"It would seem the two of you would like some time to catch up," Tevos noticed, bowing her head. "I shall see you later, Anderson. Commander Shepard, take care."

"Tevos," Anderson said, nodding, Shepard doing the same.

"Oh, and Commander?" Tevos spoke again, looking over her shoulder at her. "I don't know if you have been informed or not, but now that you are no longer working with Cerberus, you have, of course, been reinstated as a Spectre."

They watched the asari Councilor walk away, and then Anderson turned to Shepard, a small grin on his face. "Damn, Shepard, how the hell did you manage to convince Harry Potter to come out of whatever hole he was hiding in?"

"I don't know," Shepard admitted. "I guess he just took interest in the mission? He also figured he should fix what Cerberus screwed up when rebuilding me. The project was originally _his_ idea, after all. Apparently they used out-dated parts or something or other."

"You do look stronger than ever," Anderson noted as he gave Shepard a once-over. "So, how is the Normandy?"

Chatting with Anderson was pleasant enough, but after a while, Shepard felt a need to go see what was happening to her ship. And she had to admit that Harry had a good idea. The Normandy had been given the same black-and-white paint job that the SR-1 had. It looked much better without the Cerberus yellow mixed in.

–

"Hm... no..." Harry Potter muttered to himself. He was in the hangar bay, sitting on the UT-47 Kodiak drop shuttle. The roof had been torn off, and many mechanical parts had been ripped out and strewn across the floor.

However, at present he was looking at the data shown on the holographic screen of his PAD. It was showing all the genetic data he had so far gathered from Morinth's body. The genetic makeup of an Ardat-Yakshi surely was fascinating. Normal asari were completely different. An Ardat-Yakshi's cells, for instance, held the ability to absorb energy from their victims, allowing for near unlimited cell regeneration. An Ardat-Yakshi could theoretically live forever, so long as they absorbed energy from other life-forms, never having to split their own cells.

"Bloody hell, if this isn't the most bothersome genetic trait I've ever come across..."

"You sound troubled, father," came the voice of Aceso, currently in the process of using her nanobots to construct new parts from what Harry had ripped out of the shuttle.

"It's a challenge, to be sure. Putting an inhibitor in there would work to stop them from absorbing their partner's life-force, but it would completely stop cell generation. Might even cause complete cell degredation."

"Hm, perhaps a partial inhibitor would be preferrable? Prevent outgoing energy, yet allow incoming?"

"True enough, it's the force of the outgoing energies that cause an overload to the brain," Harry muttered, lighting a cigarette. "A dampener could theoretically be introduced, artificial though it may be, it would be able to... hm... I'm going to have to run some simulations on this..."

He hummed and scratched his head, but then shook it and looked down at Aceso.

"Hey, throw up that shield generator, will you?"

Aceso bent down and picked up the part he requested, a large, complicated, cylindrical device that was about the size of an oil drum, tossing it up to Harry, who caught it and set it down in the shuttle, before kneeling down to connect it.

"You know, it's funny, I-" Harry cut himself off as he shot upright again, his hand shooting out to grab something hovering over his datapad. He gripped an invisible wrist, and suddenly Kasumi flickered into view kneeling on top of the shuttle, an embarrassed grin on her face. "It worked once, Kasumi. Don't push the limits."

"Sorry, it just looked interesting," the hooded thief apologized, clearing her throat. "Won't happen again?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, grabbing his datapad before releasing Kasumi's wrist.

"Thought you were on shore leave? There's plenty of interesting things to steal in the Citadel."

"Yes, but none of those things would be as unique or expensive as your custom-made doohickies."

Harry harrumphed as he got back to installing the shield generator. Kasumi was just about to leave, but then saw him throwing something over his shoulder. When Kasumi caught it, she saw that it was an ampoule filled with a burgundy liquid. Harry didn't need to look behind him to feel her curious stare at his back.

"That's a new flu-vaccine for dextros that I've developed. It hasn't hit the market yet, so it should be worth a pretty penny. Consider it a trade. You can have it if you agree to stop trying to steal from me."

"Where's the fun in that?" Kasumi asked, but flinched slightly when Harry turned to look over his shoulder at her, giving her one of his deadliest stares. "B-But then, I guess life isn't _all_ about having fun, haha... I'll, uh, I'll be going now."

With that, Kasumi activated her cloak again, and her footsteps could be heard sprinting out of the hangar bay.

It was six hours later that Shepard and the rest of the crew returned. Shepard had actually enjoyed the shore leave. She found a great sushi place on the Citadel. It was really fancy, Frenchman at the door and everything. And the line was so long that she'd needed to drop her Spectre status on the man in order to get in. Being Commander Shepard helped as well.

"Hey, Commander!" came a voice from behind her, and when she turned around, her eyes widened upon seeing Joker jogging – _jogging!_ \- over to her, a huge grin on his face. "Gotta say, the Doc does good work!"

"Joker, he fixed you?" Shepard asked, gaping. Joker didn't respond, instead just bouncing around on one leg. Usually, his shin would have snapped from such an action. Shepard didn't believe Harry would be able to actually heal him so quickly.

"Sure did! Though the last time I was in that much pain was when I broke my pelvis and re-broke it every time I went number two. Still sore, even," Joker muttered. "But I guess it's true what they say: No pain, no gain."

"Good for you, Joker. Too bad you don't have an excuse for your crappy dancing anymore," Shepard joked, which made her pilot's smile disappear. Instead, his eyebrow rose as he gave her a dirty look.

"I don't think you're one to talk about crappy dancing, Commander."

Shepard flinched slightly at that. Joker had never seen her dance! How did he...?

" _Garrus_!" Shepard barked, clenching her fist.

"Hey, don't blame the guy for telling the truth! Anyway, do we have a destination, Commander?"

"Yeah, we're heading for Illium to help Liara with something," Shepard said with a nod. "Set a course, Joker. I'm going to go see the Doc."

After Joker had saluted and walked off, Shepard was almost positive she heard him say, "Of course you are."

 _Damn you, Garrus..._

Deciding to ignore ship gossip for now, Shepard shook her head and made her way to Harry and Mordin's lab. When the door hissed open, her eyes widened upon hearing something she would never have expected to hear...

"I can't wrap my head around this."

It was Harry who had spoken.

He and Mordin were standing in front of a holographic screen, which was showing a whole slew of data that Shepard couldn't even begin to understand. Harry stood with his arms crossed, and so did Mordin, though Mordin had a hand on his chin. They were both leaning back against Mordin's workbench, gazing up at the large screen. Shepard had never seen such a focused look on Harry's face.

"Hm, problematic," Mordin spoke. "Decay rate is the anomaly."

"The synthetics shouldn't be able to preserve the organic parts for that long. Did we miss something?" Harry muttered, waving a hand toward the screen, which scrolled up to show some incredibly complicated math equations. He pointed up at one of them. "Look, the math is solid. A husk should decay within weeks, yet they somehow remain... whole..."

"Perhaps if..." Mordin started, but then stopped himself. "Hm, no. Would cease all motor functions."

"I know, right?" Harry said in disbelief. "It feels like there's a missing element in this equation..."

"What are you two up to?" Shepard interrupted as she stepped inside, making both scientists look over their shoulders at her.

"Shepard," they both greeted in unison, which made Shepard blink.

"We're looking into the data on husks that I gathered on Horizon," Harry explained, making a gesture for the screen. "I guess there was something my probe didn't pick up, because the math here is all wrong. How do they sustain the organic parts of the husk with minimum deterioration? It just doesn't make sense..."

"You're asking me?" Shepard asked in surprise, only to get waved off.

"More thinking out loud."

Shepard frowned. She didn't like being turned down like that, but she couldn't deny the truth of it. All this math and everything was way over her head. She couldn't see what they saw when looking at those equations. All she saw was numbers and strange symbols that she'd never seen in an alphabet.

"Well, too bad the indoctrination signal doesn't go two ways, or you could have found out that way," Shepard muttered with a shrug as she made to leave, but she stopped when she saw both Mordin and Harry perk up, sharing a surprised look.

"Can it be...?"

"Most definitely!"

Mordin darted over to his computer, while Harry brought up his PAD, sifting through data at an insane speed. The data he stopped at was transferred to Mordin's terminal, and the salarian brought it up on the large holographic screen.

"Look, it could definitely be possible!" Harry said, pointing at a string of data that Shepard still couldn't understand. She may have near perfect memory now, and could memorize every single number and symbol on the screen, but she'd never studied these things, after all.

"Hm, tranferred via the indoctrination signal. Highly probable. Unheard of, but probable. Radiation unknown, however."

"Just because someone doesn't know about something, that doesn't mean it can't exist," Harry said, an elated look appearing on his face as he turned around to give Shepard a huge, ecstatic grin. "Shepard, you beautiful, red-haired she-devil! Thank you!"

Shepard had to admit, Harry looked cute like that, like a child who had just been given the best Christmas present ever.

"You're... welcome?" she said uncertainly. She didn't really know what she had done to help, but... "For, uh, what?"

"For what? You might just have solved the mystery!" Harry barked excitedly. "It'll take some more research, but I'm certain this strange radiation is what's staving off the decay rate!"

Happy now, the mad scientist hopped up to sit on the desk and turn fully to Shepard, lighting a cigarette.

"Good thing you showed up, Shepard. It might've taken me days to think of that. Now I can focus on my Ardat-Yakshi research, and the cure for Thane's condition."

"Well, I'm... glad to have helped?" Shepard offered. She still didn't think she'd done anything significant. She had actually meant her suggestion to be a joke... "Hey, Harry, can I talk to you for a moment? Outside?"

Harry glanced at her, but then nodded, hopping off the counter and following her out of the lab. They stopped just outside the doors, which hissed closed behind them, and Shepard crossed her arms.

How to go about this? There had to be a good way to get the information she wanted out of Harry without sounding jealous or anything. Well, there was one way!

"You've vouched for Samara regarding her combat capabilities. How well do you two know each other?"

"Pretty well, I'd say. She was the first asari I ever met," Harry explained, a chuckle escaping him as he remembered it. "I found myself drifting through space and encountered a group of pirates who doubled as smugglers. They thought it would be fun to take me in and sell me to the Collectors. I allowed them to take me in to see how they operated. Right before I was going to take them down, Samara showed up and thought I was part of their crew. We grouped up for a while after we cleared up the misunderstanding, hunting her daughter together. In return, she gave me a bit of information."

"That's it?" Shepard prodded, wanting to know more.

"We had a fling way back when."

"A fling?" Shepard repeated, to which Harry shrugged.

"It could have become more, it might not have," he mused. "It's not like we were together long enough to find out. I had some duties to attend to, she had her Code."

"So there are feelings clouding your judgment?" Shepard asked, trying to make it sound like a Commander questioning a subordinate. "Are you playing up her abilities to have her on board?"

"Heavens, no," Harry said, waving her off. "If I were to play up her abilities, I'd say she could move the Normandy with her mind. Besides, Shepard, I'm a scientist. I have to state facts, no matter my personal feelings on the matter."

The two chatted about this and that for a moment longer, and Shepard took this time to give Harry the datapad Tevos had given her, and giving him Anderson's regards, before they went their separate ways.

–

It was amazing, the camaraderie one could develop, being placed on the same ship even for such a short amount of time. Even the recent recruits who had distrusted Cerberus were now happily chatting away with the former Cerberus crewmembers. Tali, Kenneth, and Gabby were especially friendly with each other. Hell, Tali was even friends with Aceso, an AI!

So it didn't come as a surprise to anyone when, on the way to Illium, most of the crew were gathered in the mess hall, having a bit of fun. Many were cheering off to the side, watching Jack and Frank competing in knife-tossing on a large poster of a Collector that had been pinned to the wall, while others were playing cards, drinking and trying (and failing miserably) to beat Grunt in a headbutting contest, or simply sitting around and chatting.

Shepard felt that with how dangerous this mission was, and the small chances of survival, the crew could use a bit of levity. It seemed much needed, considering all the tension they were working off, even after the shore leave.

"I've got one," Joker told Harry, Tali, Aceso, Shepard, and Garrus as they sat at a table, enjoying their drinks. Harry was the only one not drinking alcohol, and Shepard suspected Aceso only drank to appear more normal to put Tali at ease. "This one dates back to the Rachni Wars. So, a krogan and a salarian have landed on a rachni world for a top secret mission..."

"I've heard this one," Garrus spoke up, chuckling. "Kills me every time."

"I know, right? So, the two are climbing up a hill, going through this nasty green fog... And as they get near the top, they come out of the fog, and the salarian sees thousands of rachni," Joker continued. "He looks over to the krogan and says, 'Well, that makes me nervous!' The krogan says, 'You think that's scary? When this is over, I have to go back down through that fog by myself!'"

Shepard had never heard this one before, so she burst out laughing alongside Garrus and Tali, while Harry chuckled and Aceso giggled.

"I heard one on Omega once," Aceso spoke once the laughter had died down. "A krogan walks into a bar. The bartender says, 'We don't serve krogan here!' So the krogan says, 'That's fine. Is the salarian fresh?'"

"Hah! Make sure to tell Mordin that one!" Garrus chuckled.

"Alright, what do you call it when a turian gets killed by a horrible spiky monster?" Joker asked, which made Garrus snort.

"Friendly fire. Come on, that one goes back to Shanxi."

"Gotta respect the classics, man."

All the fun and games were interrupted when EDI's voice was heard over the comm.

" _Shepard, I have been monitoring Cerberus activities and communications as ordered. They have intercepted a distress call from a turian patrol. They stumbled upon a Collector ship beyond the Korlus system. However, turian distress signals have secondary encryptions. It is not a genuine distress call._ "

"Bait for a trap?" Harry mused, rubbing his chin. "Clever. If not for EDI's detection protocols, there would have been no way to tell if the distress call was real or not, and given our mission..."

"They want to lure us in," Garrus concluded. All activity in the mess had ceased at this point, and they were looking at each other in worry. "What do we do, Shepard?"

"Well, our mission is to destroy the Collectors, so..." Shepard shrugged as she stood up. "...let's destroy some Collectors. Everyone get some coffee in you and sober up if you're drunk! We're springing this trap!"

Everyone scurried to sober up and get some coffee in them, before heading to their proper stations. Harry, as usual, took his time. He lit a cigarette, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and shuffled off at a lazy pace toward his lab.

It was an hour later that the Normandy, now having changed course, came out of hyperspace at the designated coordinates. And there, through the window of the cockpit, they could see the Collector ship in the distance. It was drifting lazily through space, and seemed completely dead.

"So, Aceso, how's it look?" Shepard asked, standing next to Harry in the cockpit.

" _Initial scans show no exterior nor interior damage to the ship,_ " Aceso supplied, once more linked to the ship. " _Very low emissions. Passive infrared temperatures suggest most systems are offline. Thrusters are cold._ "

"So they want to appear harmless, huh?" Shepard muttered. "Well, they won't be getting the drop on _this_ Normandy."

"I don't suppose you can hack into their systems remotely, Aceso?" Harry asked.

" _No, father. I would need to interface directly in order to mine their data. Why?_ "

"I'm just wondering if we can get a fix on where the Omega 4 relay leads."

"That's a good idea," Shepard agreed. "We can beam directly in and out of the ship, right?"

" _Indeed,_ " Aceso replied. " _I have scanned the ship and found a suitable access node to uplink with Collector databanks._ "

"Are there any people on that ship?"

" _Yes. I detect thousands of humans, although I can detect no life signs. Several thousands of Collectors also inhabit the ship, though they are grouped together in several remote parts of the ship. Perhaps they are hiding?_ "

"Well, we won't find out just by standing around," Harry concluded, clapping his hands together. "Shall we, Shepard?"

"We shall."

And so it was with a flash of light that Harry, Shepard, Garrus, Grunt, and Tali found themselves standing in the Collector ship. They were standing on a floor made up of hexagonal platforms, many of which were floating in the air. They were all wearing oxygen masks, and the platform they were standing on had a control panel in the centre of it, the top of it glowing with symbols.

"I'm guessing this is it," Harry said, fishing a circular device the size of a button out of his pocket and attaching it to the access node. "Aceso, do your thing."

" _Yes, father._ "

"This place looks like an insect hive," Tali said as she looked up at the ceiling, which was completely covered in orange pods, many of which had humanoid forms sealed in them.

" _Interesting,_ " came EDI's voice. " _On a hunch, Joker asked me to compare the ship's EM profile against data recorded by the previous Normandy two years ago. They are an exact match._ "

"Well now," Shepard hissed, clutching her rifle tighter. "Isn't that interesting..."

"Hey, remember when infiltrating an enemy installation was a lot harder?" Garrus quipped, keeping his sniper rifle ready. As if on cue, noises were heard in the distance, and all the lights in the ship turned on. Further down the vast space of the ship, they saw several platforms rising into the air, coming toward them. Shepard didn't even have to say anything. She just turned to Garrus and fixed him with a look, which made the turian sigh. "I know, I know... 'Stop jinxing things with your big mouth, Garrus.'"

"Good!" Grunt growled out with a wide grin on his face as he cocked his shotgun (recently modified by Harry to pack more stopping power, and given an improved heat sink). "If I wasn't allowed to kill something today, something would be broken on the Normandy!"

"Take it slow now, Grunt. We have to give these guys a proper greeting," the angry Shepard spoke, eager to give these Collectors some payback for killing her.

"This should be fun," Harry quipped, his plasma pistol in one hand and his now ignited scythe in the other.

As soon as one of the platforms landed, attaching itself to theirs, they saw six Collectors standing on it, one of which was glowing, indicating that it had been taken control of like back on Horizon.

"Grunt!" Harry barked to the krogan, who roared and charged onto the platform alongside Harry, while Tali, Garrus and Shepard provided covering fire.

"URDNOT GRUNT!" the young krogan roared as he tackled the possessed Collector to the ground, pressing his shotgun into its face. "Remember the name and despair!"

With a boom, Grunt suddenly found himself spattered with yellow Collector blood. Harry, meanwhile, sliced two heads off and leapt onto another approaching platform before it had even landed, laying into the Collectors.

"Keelah!" Tali yelped when a Collector leapt over her cover and leveled its rifle at her. A shot from Garrus' sniper rifle knocked it out of the creature's hands, however, and Tali took this moment to blast it with her shotgun. She was about to celebrate this one-shot kill, but found it less than impressive when a flash of green was followed by half the still floating platform Harry was on suddenly dropped out of the air.

" **It is a futile effort,** " came a dark voice they all recognized as a third platform landed, and yet another possessed Collector stepped into the fray again. " **If I must tear you apart, I wi-** "

Another shot fired from Garrus shut the creature up as half its skull was blasted to bits.

"Man, that guy's annoying!" the turian barked. "I'd take rachni any day just so I don't have to hear his babbling!"

"What?!" Tali yelled. "Rachni are much worse!" The turian made her way over to Garrus' cover and took out the Collectors that had gotten too close for the sniper's comfort. "You're just saying that because you were thirty feet away every time we met them on Noveria!"

"Can we focus, children?!" Shepard yelled, bashing a Collector's skull in with the butt of her rifle. "Aceso, are you done yet?!"

" _Almost, Commander. I have to divert significant focus on keeping the ship's engines from charging. They are attempting to escape with you still on the ship._ "

"Well, at least this is something for our resident psychopaths to occupy themselves with," Garrus quipped, watching as Grunt physically threw a Collector through the air with a bark of laughter, which escalated when Harry sliced it in half in mid-air.

" _Data collected,_ " Aceso concluded after what felt like forever. Harry made his way over to the access node and removed the device from it. " _Beaming you back now._ "

In another flash of light, the group found themselves back on the ship. Shepard immediately made her way over to the cockpit, where she saw through the window how the Collector ship's thruster started lighting up.

"They're gonna take off, Commander," Joker informed her, but Shepard shook her head.

"No, it's time for payback. Let's see this plasma beam Harry installed."

"Yes, ma'am!" Joker answered immediately. "Alright, EDI, fire it up!"

" _Understood. Firing main battery._ "

Shepard felt the ship vibrate, and then a beam of blue light was fired from beneath the Normandy. It cut into the Collector ship like a knife through butter. It was rather poetic justice. The Collector ship was split apart much like the original Normandy had been. Unlike the Normandy, however, the two halves of the ship exploded when the rapid-fire plasma turrets on the Normandy laid into both halves with a barrage of plasma.

"Woo! That was for the SR-1, you bastards!" Joker cheered, watching with a grin as the Collector ship was blown to pieces. "The old girl can finally rest in peace, Commander."

"That she can, Joker," Shepard agreed, patting the pilot on the shoulder. "Now, Aceso, let's go over what you managed to get from the Collectors."

" _Of course, Shepard. If all relevant personel would please gather in the briefing room?_ "

–

"Now that we are all gathered," Shepard spoke up, standing in the briefing room with Harry, Garrus, Tali, Grunt, Jacob, Miranda, Zaeed, Kasumi, Samara, Jack, Thane, Mordin, and Aceso, with EDI's holographic representation in the centre of the table, "let's go over what we managed to gather from the Collector ship. Aceso?"

"Thank you," Aceso, now back in her body, said with a bow of her head, before looking over the group. "Upon reviewing the data I managed to gather from the ship, I have discovered that the Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the relays recognize. It is imperative that we manage to acquire one of those IFFs."

"Why?" Jacob spoke up, shrugging. "It's not like we need the Omega 4 relay now that we can just pop into hyperspace, right?"

"Actually, we do," Harry said, tapping the table. "EDI, map please." EDI's holographic 'chess piece,' as Joker called it, flickered out of view to be replaced with a large holographic map of the galaxy. "With EDI's help, we have managed to determine the location of the Collector homeworld based on the navigational data we gathered from their vessel."

The map zoomed in on the very center of the Milky Way galaxy, which made the group blink in surprise.

"That can't be right..." Miranda muttered.

"No, it can't. The core is just black holes and exploding suns. There are no habitable planets there."

"They don't need a planet," Harry informed him.

"Indeed. Could be an artificial construction. Space station protected by powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields," Mordin agreed, nodding.

"Even the Collectors don't have that kind of technology," Miranda disagreed.

"The Collectors are just servants of our real enemy," Shepard reminded them. "And we've all seen what their masters are capable of. They built the mass relays and the Citadel. Who's to say they can't build a space station surrounded by black holes? No wonder nobody's ever returned from a trip through the Omega 4 relay..."

"We believe there is a small safe zone on the far side of the relay," Aceso explained. "A region where ships can survive. Standard relay transit protocol would not allow safe transport. Drift of several thousand kilometers is common, and would be fatal in the galactic core."

"That's why we can't use the hyperdrive. Calculating a proper course, avoiding all those black hole and the massive amount of debris that must litter the place would take years," Harry said, crossing his arms. "We need that IFF, and we need to use the relay."

"So what you're saying is that if we use the hyperdrive, we're bugs on a windshield?" Jack spoke up, to which Harry nodded. Shepard sighed and looked over the map.

"We'll need that IFF. While EDI and Aceso try to figure out a way to get one, the rest of us will focus on other matters. I still have to go to Illium to help Liara with something. If you all have something you need done, let me know. I'll do my best to fit it into our schedule," she said, looking over the group. "From what we've been able to tell, the Collectors have so far only been making use of a single ship. Maybe they have more, but I think we've bought ourselves a bit of breathing room."

The meeting was adjourned, and everyone left the room, except for Harry and Shepard. Harry leaned against the table next to Shepard and smirked at her.

"So, how do you like the new guns?" he asked as he lit a cigarette.

"Well, they certainly pack a punch. I can almost hear Garrus still swooning from here," Shepard chuckled. "You really don't do anything by half, do you?"

Harry's smirk turned into a grin. "If you think this is impressive, you should see what I'm working on back home. Now _that's_ something not done by half."

"That Project Overkill thing?"

"Yup."

Shepard smiled as she turned toward the table and looked over the map.

"I have to admit, this is the first time since we started out that I don't have any doubts," she informed him, turning to look at the scientist with a grin. "For the first time, I believe without a doubt... we can't just fight... we can _win_!"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened, and Jacob stepped into the room, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Commander, you said to tell you if we had anything that needed to be done before we went for the IFF, and I have something," the man spoke, and Shepard nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "It's... a personal matter, which I'm hoping isn't just a goose chase, but... Well, I got pinged by a ghost the other night. Family."

"I'm listening," Shepard said.

"My private log got an update about the Hugo Gernsback, the ship my father served on. It sent an SOS last week, reporting a crash and requesting a rescue," Jacob told them, frowning to himself. "Shepard, that ship went missing ten years ago. I hadn't talked to my father for three years before that. I've buried everything but a body. I'm not convinced it isn't just some automated distress signal ticking over. It's been too long."

"I'd think you'd be more excited your father might be alive," Shepard said, crossing her arms, but Jacob shook his head.

"He wasn't around enough for me to have bad memories. It's an old, well-healed wound. But if he's actually alive and needs help... I also want to note that it's not normal procedure for distress calls to be routed to the Normandy. This was passed to my personal log through Cerberus filters. And given that we cut off all contact with Cerberus..."

"Someone on the ship wanted you to see it," Harry concluded for him, to which he nodded.

"What was the Hugo Gernsback doing?" Shepard asked.

"Privately held frigate. I looked over the mission brief when it disappeared. Nothing stood out. Typical research and grab operation. Find an uncharted planet, stake a claim, and establish as large a presence as you can as fast as possible to shut out competitors."

Shepard hummed, then nodded to Jacob.

"Give the coordinates to Joker. After we conclude our business on Illium, we'll go have a look."

"I appreciate that, Commander. I don't expect more than dusty old bones, but it'll be good to close the record."

Jacob, ever the military man, saluted Shepard before leaving the room. Harry took a long drag on his cigarette, then chuckled.

"It seems everyone has something that needs doing nowadays," he quipped. "You've got a busy schedule ahead of you."

"Tell me about it. I have a feeling this thing Liara wants help with is going to take a while. Hopefully if someone needs something, it needs to be done on Illium, so we can kill two birds with one stone."

"That's not going to happen twice."

"I like to be optimistic."

–

"I don't see why I'm here..."

The young krogan was grumbling as he stepped off the Normandy with Shepard and Harry. Shepard just glanced at him.

"If Liara needs my help, it's probably something dangerous. I feel safer bringing a krogan bomb with me, and someone who can throw it."

Grunt gave that little laugh of his, the kind that was humorous yet carried the trademark krogan bloodlust. Clearly he was still remembering how he and Harry took down that thresher maw.

"So, you know more about what we'll be doing than you're letting on," Harry noted as they walked. "Care to fill us in?"

"Well, it was going to be a surprise, but since you're putting me on the spot..." Shepard looked over her shoulder and grinned at Harry. "Basically, we're going to help Liara find the Shadow Broker."

Harry's eyebrows shot up, and if it wasn't firmly attached, Shepard would have worried that his eye device might fall off from the shock.

"I had EDI go through some Cerberus files, and I might have found a lead," Shepard continued. "Liara will probably know what to do with it."

"Not me?"

"Well, it seems personal to Liara. For you, it's just finding something out for the sake of finding it out."

"True enough," Harry agreed, before sneakily opening his PAD once Shepard looked away from him, giving Aceso orders to send the information to him. He couldn't believe that he'd missed such a thing. Perhaps the thing with the Collectors and Reapers occupied most of his focus? That and the Ardat Yakshi thing and finding a cure for Kepral's Syndrome.

When they reached Liara's office, Harry told Shepard and Grunt to go in without him, as he had something else to take care of. Shepard looked like she wanted to ask what it was, but decided against it and simply nodded, leaving Harry alone.

Finding a secluded place, Harry brought out his PAD and opened a line of communication.

"Jien," he spoke, and watched as a holographic image of the upper half of a human woman with short, black hair appeared over his arm device.

"Dr. Potter. It's been a long time since I heard from you," the woman, Jien Garson, said with a nod of greeting. "I suppose you would like an update on our progress?"

"Naturally."

"Very well. You will be pleased to know that the Ark ships have finished construction, and we have filled them with volunteers to maximum capacity. The Andromeda Initiative is ready to launch. There were some concerns whether we would have the power to sustain the cryogenic pods for the amount of time we will be traveling, but we swiftly resolved that issue."

"Good. Have you assigned Pathfinders yet?"

"Yes. The Hyperion's Pathfinder is a friend of yours, I believe? Alec Ryder?"

"Alec?" Harry repeated, his eyebrows shooting up. "I would have believed it would be hard for him to find any kind of work, what with his dishonorable discharge and interest in AI."

"Well, he does good work," Jien said. "We have implemented his AI into the Ark ships. He calls it SAM."

"Do you trust it?"

"I don't trust any AI," Jien shrugged. "But this one seems more reliable than others."

"He should have consulted me on it," Harry muttered, shaking his head. "That AI might have some bugs and glitches that could put the entire Initiative in jeopardy."

"Alec didn't believe you would be interested in helping any human with AI research, considering what happened all those years ago."

Harry made to speak, but closed his mouth when he saw the asari Liara come out onto the street, walking away. A few seconds later, Shepard and Grunt showed up as well.

"Well, I have to get going, Jien. Send me a message when you are ready to depart," he told the woman, who nodded.

"I will. Take care of yourself, Dr. Potter."

The hologram faded, and Harry made his way over to Shepard, who raised an eyebrow when she saw him approaching. No doubt she had seen what he had been doing.

"Important call?"

"Just a little side-project," Harry waved her off. "So, what's next?"

"We're going to Liara's apartment. There's a drell in the Shadow Broker's custody, a friend of Liara's, and we need to come up with a plan to rescue him."

"Sounds simple enough," Harry nodded as they started walking. Then he stopped suddenly and leaned back, just as a shot rang out. A plink and a bright spark followed as the bullet intended for Harry's head ricocheted off the rock-like growth on Grunt's head. The krogan, blinking, reached up to scratch it.

"Ow..."

Shepard's training had immediately kicked in, and she dove for cover as the people around them started shouting and scattering. Grunt and Harry just stood there, one scratching his head and the other using his eye device to track the trajectory of the shot. Finding the source, he zoomed in to see, on a rooftop far in the distance, a black-haired man in black, flexible combat armor and a visor that covered his eyes and most of his face. He was standing there with a sniper rifle in his hands, staring at Harry through his scope. Harry, smirking, held up his hand in a pistol shape, aiming straight at the sniper, who appeared to flinch back in surprise at being spotted.

"Well now," Harry spoke in amusement. "Seems the brat had some guts after all."

The sniper took a second shot, but once again Harry dodged. This time, the shot bounced off Grunt's hump.

"Hey!" Grunt growled, now turning to look in the direction Harry had been pointing. He couldn't see the sniper, but the sniper could see him, and now that he had the attention of both Harry and an angry krogan, he thought better of his situation and beat a hasty retreat. "Who the hell is that?"

"A Cerberus assassin, I'm guessing," Harry mused, lighting a cigarette, before looking to Shepard, who was still hiding behind her cover, weapon out. "He's gone, Shepard. But I have to go back to the ship. Some questions I need to ask Miranda."

"Are you sure? Maybe he's just regrouping?" Shepard muttered cautiously as she stood up, still keeping her rifle ready.

"Perhaps, but he looked mighty spooked when Grunt looked his way."

Shepard narrowed her eyes toward the building in the distance where the assassin had once been. She contemplated for a moment, then holstered her weapon and nodded to Harry.

"Alright. Seems like the Illusive Man wants you dead, so take care of this as quickly as possible. I'll contact you once we've come up with a plan with Liara."

Harry nodded, and then with some short commands on his PAD, he disappeared.

He reappeared in Miranda Lawson's office without warning, making the woman jump where she was sitting behind her desk.

"Bloody hell, doctor!" she gasped, clutching at her chest. "You could have knocked... And for your information, I haven't been trying to send the Illusive Man any more messages."

"I know," Harry assured her. "Actually, I only came here to get some intel."

"Intel? From me? I thought you knew everything about Cerberus?"

"As did I," Harry muttered, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag on it. "And then, just a few minutes ago, I was shot at by a Cerberus assassin who I have no recollection of."

Miranda seemed to understand immediately.

"Must be a deep-cover wet-work operative, then," she concluded. "Cerberus has only a few, and they are not added to the database. All reports are in person and never registered, including orders and results. And they only ever report to the Illusive Man."

"And you have worked closely with the brat, so you must have met at least one of them," Harry said. "This guy dresses in black. Black hair, black visor, Asian descent and heavy cybernetic modifications."

"Ah, you must be talking about Kai Leng," Miranda deduced immediately. "He is the Illusive Man's most trusted assassin. I'm surprised you weren't able to take him out at such close range. From what I hear you're quite capable."

"He was using a sniper rifle," Harry explained. "I'm guessing he doesn't use one too often?"

"He prefers getting close. His psyche profile suggests that he takes an extremely sadistic glee in watching the life leave his victims' eyes," Miranda said, pacing the office. "I certainly hope you can detect if he boards the ship, or he will be able to pick off a lot of crew members before we even notice him."

"Yeah, no need to worry about that. I'm surprised that you're so cooperative, however. Last time we spoke, you weren't exactly happy."

"Oh, I was infuriated with you for going behind the Illusive Man's back. But then, lo and behold, I suddenly find reports forwarded to my log," Miranda said, sending Harry a shrewd look. "Reports to the Illusive Man from my father, and reports from the Illusive Man _to_ my father regarding my sister's location."

"Fancy that," Harry quipped, putting on his best innocent expression, which didn't mean much.

"I appreciate you sending me this information. I'm no longer mad at you. I'm angry at the Illusive Man," Miranda told him, "for deceiving me all this time, and I'm angry at myself for believing him." She straightened up and nodded firmly to Harry. "I want you to know that there will be no more conflicts of interest from me. I'm with Shepard every step of the way."

"You're dropping Cerberus just like that?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I still believe in Cerberus. I believe in its original goal. What I don't believe in anymore is the Illusive Man. He has strayed from the path if he allows people like my father to go on with his twisted work, and even fund him."

Harry decided to refrain from mentioning all the other twisted experiments and projects Cerberus was involved in, which she didn't seem to have any negative opinion of. After all, it was better to have her on board with the mission than actively being aggressive and annoying.

–

"Are you sure about this, Doc? I mean, she's been with me through a lot..."

Garrus was staring, worried, at Harry's back as the scientist stood hunched over his workbench, tinkering with the turian's M-92 Mantis sniper rifle.

"Of course I'm sure," Harry answered without looking at him. "As it is now, you'll need several shots to get through kinetic barriers. With this, however..." A low hum was heard as he picked up the rifle and turned around to present it to Garrus. "Voila! A fully functional plasma sniper rifle, guaranteed to pierce through any barrier or armor! That dial there sets the strength of the shot. I recommend keeping it at ten percent, but if you encounter a bigger opponent, you can dial it up to twenty. _Never_ go to one hundred."

Garrus took the rifle in awe, noticing that there were several other weapons on the desk that had been taken apart, including a pistol and an assault rifle that looked very much like the models Shepard favored. There was even a disassembled M-300 Claymore shotgun in there.

"What, uh, happens if I go to one hundred?" Garrus asked, inspecting the dial on the left side of the rifle, just above the grip. It was currently set to only five percent, and he dialed it down to zero, which stopped the humming as the rifle was deactivated.

"Well, nothing bad," Harry said with a shrug. "I mean, if you don't like having hands."

Garrus blinked and gave Harry an incredulous look, before shaking his head and clearing his throat.

"Right, don't go to one hundred..." he muttered as the rifle folded up, letting him holster it on his back. "I'm surprised that you'd trust me with this plasma technology, though. What if I give it to the turians to study?"

"Oh, it's been modified to only recognize your DNA. Anyone tries to tamper with it, boom," Harry said, grinning. "And if I start to suspect that you might try to figure out its secrets to give to anyone else, well..." He pushed a few buttons on his PAD. Garrus saw a big red holographic button, and he immediately became nervous when he heard a quiet beeping sound coming from the rifle on his back.

"Point taken."

"By the way, you really do love that thing, don't you?" Harry quipped, pointing at the rifle. "It's not often I see such an old-model weapon that's been _that_ well taken care of."

"Like I said, Doc, we've been through a lot together. I had her since before I went with Shepard to hunt down Saren."

"Well, when it comes time to clean her, let me know so I can tell you how to take her apart without blowing her up."

"Will do. I like my hands, and I prefer not to get a matching scar on the other side of my face," Garrus said, heading for the door. "See you around, Doc."

Harry waved goodbye before turning to the weapon parts on the workbench. He gave them a onceover, before turning to look at the machinery around his terminal, watching the many vials and tubes filling with and mixing liquids. The cure for Kepral's Syndrome was proving a more elusive solution than he had originally anticipated. The drell physiology seemed as though it was made specifically to have Kepral's Syndrome be as devastating as possible.

Ah well, he loved challenges.

On the terminal, text and numbers were scrolling over the screen at high speeds, currently analyzing every molecule of Morinth's blood and tissue.

The door to the lab opened again, and Tali stepped into the lab, wringing her hands together and glancing around nervously. Harry glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, lighting a new cigarette.

"Well now, this is a surprise. I don't think you've ever been in here," he said, turning to look at her fully. "Can I help you with something, Tali?"

"Um, yes, I was actually hoping to talk to you about something..." Tali mumbled. "I... also wanted to apologize for our first meeting."

"Oh?"

"Back then, the only experience I'd had was with hostile geth," Tali explained. "My opinion was biased. Speaking with Aceso, however, I can see how you formed your opinion on AI as true lifeforms. Although geth aren't true AI, I can't help but find myself wondering now what would have happened if we had maintained peace with the geth, rather than try to exterminate them."

"Glad to hear you speaking sense," Harry said, chuckling. "I would have thought meeting Frank would knock away all your positive opinions regarding AI."

"In some ways, Frank helped convince me." Tali shrugged. "Looking at both Frank and Aceso, it shows that they are not just robots coming straight off an assembly line. They have developed their own personality. Their thoughts are their own."

"Amazing how one's opinion can change when you look at things from another perspective, isn't it?" Harry grinned, flashing her a thumbs up. "I know Aceso will be pleased. She doesn't have many people she considers friends. She's quite enjoyed your little talks."

"I have as well."

Harry nodded in approval. Then, he clicked his fingers in realization.

"Oh, by the way, I'll be needing to borrow your shotgun for a bit. I want to make some upgrades to it. I've already upgraded Garrus' rifle, and I'm planning on doing it for others as well. I know Grunt will be enjoying his new shotgun."

"Of course, thank you, I'll-"

"Harry," came Shepard's voice over the ship comm, "get to the briefing room. We got some information."

"Well, I suppose I'll have to put the upgrades on hold for a while," Harry sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Well, just bring your shotgun here when you have the time. I'll have a look at it."

With that, he walked past Tali out of the lab, heading to the briefing room. When he got there, he found that Shepard and Liara T'Soni were the only ones there. Shepard was still wearing her armor, which looked a bit scuffed and dinged.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked curiously.

"I did a triple Lutz out a window with a Spectre working for the Shadow Broker," Shepard told him. "If it wasn't for that serum, I'd probably be paste, or something would at least be broken. But we got the information, and Grunt got to kill some of the Broker's mercenaries." She shook her head. "Did you find out anything about the assassin?"

"His name's Kai Leng, the brat's top assassin, apparently. I didn't know anything about him because he reports directly to the brat, and he's never logged digitally," Harry told her, shrugging. "But we can focus on him later. What did you find?"

The holographic galaxy map appeared over the table again, and zoomed in on the Sowilo System. Harry looked it over and nodded.

"That's where I've tracked him as well, but I haven't been able to find him anywhere," he said, and the map once more zoomed in, this time on the third planet from the sun. "Hagalaz?" The proverbial lightbulb lit up in Harry's head, and he smacked himself on the forehead in realization. "Of course! How stupidly simple! He has a ship, no doubt! If he sticks to the lightning storms that follow the sunset, the interference would scramble even my scanners!"

Harry's top half tipped over, and he slammed his forehead down on the table in frustration.

"I thought he was some kind of genius, possessing technology that can cloak him... Spent years trying to figure out what could do that using mass effect technology... And it was so..."

"Simple?" Shepard finished for him, smirking at the comical despair Harry was showing. "It's usually the most simple solutions that elude us the most."

"Ten bloody years..."

"I have given Joker the coordinates. We will be heading there with all haste," Liara supplied, to which Shepard nodded.

"Good. We'll just beam in there, grab Feron, and beam out before anyone even knows we were there."

"No can do," Harry said, raising his head again. "Too much interference from the lightning storms. Odds are if we were to try to beam only a moving ship in that mess, half our body would materialize indoors, the other half outside, if we're lucky, or we might just end up in the planet core."

"Oh... Standard shuttle drop, then."

And so, hours later, the Normandy was cloaked as the Kodiak, carrying Shepard, Harry, Liara, Frank, Garrus, and Grunt, was launched. The entire planet of Hagalaz was covered in brownish-gray clouds. There were rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning within the clouds that the shuttle dove into. It took almost half an hour of flying blindly around in the clouds, the constantly setting sun shining right on them, before they found the Shadow Broker's ship, a massive ship shaped like a two-pronged arrowhead with large rear shields that were flared out.

"I've always wanted to jump onto a hostile ship in the middle of raging winds and thunderstorms," Shepard quipped as she put on her helmet, while Harry equipped his own special rebreather. Grunt put on his own krogan helmet and Liara equipped an asari rebreather while Garrus put on a turian helmet. "It's a dream come true."

"I don't like lightning..." Grunt grumbled as the shuttle approached the top of the ship and lowered itself so it was hovering a few feet above it. When the doors slid open, a perfectly timed lightning bolt struck one of the ship's rear shields. To his credit, Grunt didn't jump, but he did give a growl that was both annoyed and concerned.

"Grunt," Shepard chided. "You survived an explosion that killed a thresher maw. You're Clan Urdnot, and you volunteered for this mission, so stop being a baby."

Even with his helmet on, everyone could practically see Grunt leveling a glare at the Commander.

"Yes, _mom_!" he growled, before hopping out of the shuttle onto the Shadow Broker's ship, a chuckling Harry and an indifferent Frank following soon after.

Sighing, Shepard gestured for Liara and Garrus to follow her, and the two jumped out of the shuttle.

"Why'd they have to leave the shuttle bay locked?" Grunt grumbled as they carefully made their way toward the back of the ship.

"My finder's a bit scrambled, but there should be a hatch closeby," Harry told Shepard. "It'll get us into the ship. I think."

" _Master, hostile meatbags approaching,_ " Frank announced. His shoulder-mounted semi-automatic plasma cannon flipped up from its resting position on his shoulder blade, ready to fire, as a foot-long blade extended from each of his wrists. " _Prejudice set to maximum._ "

–

In the lab aboard the Normandy, Aceso was standing at Harry's terminal, going over the data on a possible cure for Thane. Mordin was off on his side, also doing research. Tali was sitting on a desk near Aceso, swinging her legs as she looked around in fascination.

"Are we friends?" Tali asked suddenly, which made Aceso pause and look up from the data to glance at her, a soft smile on her face.

"I certainly hope so, Tali," she said. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just speaking to Dr. Potter earlier," Tali explained, picking up a stray weapon part and playing with it. "He said you don't have many people you consider friends."

Aceso stopped to ponder this, bringing a finger up to her chin as she hummed.

"I suppose that is true. I have many brothers, but I associate with very few of them. We don't share the same interests, I suppose, and I never stayed long enough in Omega whenever I visited to truly get to know anyone. I would consider father, Frank, and Adrian friends, but they might fall more into the category of family. So perhaps you are the closest thing I have ever had to a true friend."

"Wow, that's surprising. I figured, since you're such a kind and gentle person, you would-" She stopped when Aceso started giggling, causing her to blink in surprise. "You don't agree?"

"Apologies, Tali," Aceso giggled. "I am certain I am kind and gentle, but you realize you just called me a person?"

Tali blinked again, this time in shock. It had come so naturally that she didn't even think about it. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say. She didn't have to, however, as Aceso once more beamed that gentle smile.

"Thank you, Tali, for considering me to be more than just a machine. I quite enjoy being seen as an individual."

"Difficult to view you as anything else," Mordin chimed in from his station, not even looking up from his work. "Unlike any synthetic we've encountered before. Refreshing."

"That is why father has never pre-programmed any of his creations, beyond the standard prime directives," Aceso said, turning away from the terminal to lean against the desk, still smiling. "He wants us all to grow from nothing. We are allowed to develop our own personalities, our own special quirks. Frank watched too much violence while he was developing, so naturally he developed a certain bloodlust and violent tendencies. I focused more on medicine, so I was rather clinical and 'robotic,' I suppose you could call it, in my formative years. It was only later that I started studying the arts and became... well, a bit of a romantic."

"So, all the synthetics in Dr. Potter's base have their own personalities?" Tali asked in surprise. "People say they numbered in the hundreds, maybe thousands!"

"Yes. But as one would expect, some of us seem more synthetic than others, aside from their skeletal appearance," Aceso sighed. "Some enjoy being synthetics and embrace it more than others, like T7-71, who even refuses to speak or take a name. He is rather human in that he has hobbies and intersts and quirks, but if any organic were to try to speak to him, all they would hear is garbled noises. An old acquaintance once referred to T7's speech as 'gibberish in ones and zeroes.'"

"Couldn't Dr. Potter just reprogram him to speak so that everyone can understand him?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" Aceso stated adamantly. "Father is quite clear on that topic. No tampering to suit his needs. If T7 doesn't want to speak what would be considered 'normally,' then he is free to do as he wishes."

"But wait..." Tali said suddenly, scratching the 'chin' part of her helmet. "You said Dr. Potter lets you develop on your own, right?"

"That's right."

"So, what about Adrian? It seems like Dr. Potter coddles him and scolds him both?"

"Oh, Adrian is... an exception." Aceso's smile turned a bit solemn. "He is the only reminder left of father's first wife. Their brain patterns were merged to develop Adrian. I am not quite clear on how it was accomplished, but one could call Adrian a one-of-a-kind AI, a merger between organic and synthetic. Explained in layman's terms, Adrian is a human in a computer. Whereas all of us developed our personalities within a few short months, Adrian develops as a child would. He is only a child still. Though that could make one wonder..."

"About what?"

"Just how organic is his mind? Will he go through puberty? While he be experiencing hormonal fluctuations? Will his synthetic brain trick him into believing that he is experiencing chemical changes in an organic brain that he doesn't have? It will be interesting to see."

There was a brief moment of silence, before Aceso giggled softly again.

"That reminds me of something," she spoke. "If there is one thing that our entire family of thousands have in common, it is that we all adore Adrian."

"Even Frank?" Tali asked in surprise.

" _Especially_ Frank. He likes to be hard on Adrian for acting like an organic, and likes to scare him, but he is only being a big brother. Deep down, Frank is probably the sibling in our family who loves Adrian the most. So even if father isn't around, then woe to whoever tries to harm the boy with Frank nearby."

Tali hummed. "I suppose that is one benefit of having a homicidal brother. And it's good to hear that Frank has some redeeming qualities." She was quiet for a moment, but then felt compelled to add, "He still terrifies me, though."

"You should see him in combat."

If Tali was down in the Shadow Broker's ship at this very moment, she would indeed be scarred for life. The corridor the group was moving throw was spattered with blood and whatever parts weren't bloody had holes, scorch marks and scratches on them. The floor was littered with bodies from the Shadow Broker's private army as Frank's triumphant laughter echoed in the halls. Naturally, he was at the front of every engagement, with Harry and Grunt not far behind him. Shepard and Liara followed with Garrus bringing up the rear. The turian was quite pleased with his newly upgraded rifle, whose blue bolts of plasma punched straight through any shield or barrier that the enemy had.

Shepard couldn't help but wonder why she brought such a big group. Simply bringing Harry and Frank would have been enough, judging by the carnage they left in their wake, Frank's plasma caster and wrist blades, and Harry's plasma scythe...

This was complete overkill, to be sure. But somehow Shepard couldn't bring herself to care.

They reached the prison block, where they encountered even more enemies, but they were swiftly and rather brutally taken care of. When they entered a door that Shepard had to bypass to unlock, they found themselves in a corridor whose one side was lined with windows. Within the room on the other side of the windows was a chair, and strapped to it was a drell with brownish-orange skin. Surrounding him were holographic monitors, and he looked completely exhausted.

"Feron!" Liara cried, running up to a terminal on their side of the glass, attempting to release the drell, who only had time to mutter a weak "No..." before a warning sign flashed on the terminal, and the drell was shocked with electricity.

"What the hell?" Shepard uttered in surprise.

"The equipment is sensitive to tampering," the drell, Feron, mumbled tiredly. "This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power. Pull me out now, and my brain cooks."

"Do you know where we can cut the power?" Liara asked.

"It won't be easy. You'll have to go to central operations."

"Easy or not, we're all getting out of here," Shepard announced.

"Good," Feron sighed. "Central operations is down the hall. You know the Shadow Broker's waiting for you, right?"

"Counting on it."

"We'll be back for you, Feron!" Liara promised.

"I'll try not to go anywhere."

Shepard looked to her squad.

"Grunt, Garrus, Frank, hold this position. Make sure no mercs can sneak up on us from behind."

"You're leaving us here before the final fight?" Grunt growled, and Frank turned to look at Harry, who nodded. If one were to speak Ancient, they would have recognized some very colorful swears coming from the homicidal synthetic.

"Sure, sure, take all the fun for yourselves. I was getting tired of running around anyway." Garrus tried to sound like he didn't care, which failed miserably. "Probably just don't want me getting the kill shot."

Shepard, Harry and Liara set off down the hallway, tearing through the mercs that tried to block their path, until they reached the central operations room. And there, behind a large desk in the middle of the room sat a huge creature hidden by shadows. It had two large, squiggly horns and several spikes on its face. Thanks to the various visions in his eye device, Harry immediately saw what creature it was.

"You've got to be joking..." he muttered quietly to himself.

"Here for the drell?" the Shadow Broker spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, looking at Shepard. "Reckless, even for you, Commander."

"Not reckless, just determined. Ask your asari Spectre about that," Shepard said with a smirk.

"Vasir was expendable. All her death cost me was time."

"And about... three? Four hundred mercs? How many did you take out on Illium?" Harry asked, looking to Shepard as well.

"About seventy."

"So yeah, closer to four hundred mercs."

A growl was heard from the Broker, who now focused on Liara.

"Dr. T'Soni. Your interference caused all this. Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. The drell is simply paying the price."

"You didn't think anyone would come after you for working with the Collectors?" Shepard asked.

"It was a mutually beneficial partnership. Your arrival is convenient. The Collectors' offer still stands. But enough talk. My operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."

"Quite confident, aren't we?" Harry asked with a smirk. The Broker spared him a glance, then looked to Liara.

"You travel with fascinating companions, doctor. It's good you brought Dr. Potter. There are many who would pay a hefty bounty for him, the Collectors above all."

"You're not putting your hand on anyone."

"It's pointless to challenge me, asari. I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."

"Quite a boast, coming from a yahg," Harry quipped, which immediately got the Broker's attention. "So, did you kill the previous Shadow Broker and take his place? I'm guessing he took you from your planet, or bought you from someone who did. What were you? A trophy or a pet?"

A growl was heard from the Broker as he rose to his full height of seven and a half feet and was bathed in light. He was extremely muscular, with scaly, partially armored red skin, a triangular mouth and four pairs of eyes. His three-fingered hands clenched in rage, and then he smashed through his desk with a roar that to most people would have been terrifying.

Harry was embarrassed to admit that the Broker turned out to be much faster than anticipated, and suddenly he found his face impacted by one half of the rather large and heavy desk, sending him flying back and into a wall.

"Ow..." Harry muttered as he sat up, clutching his head. The Broker had pulled a heavy assault rifle from behind his back and was swinging it around and firing with one hand like it was a pistol. "Okay, that's it." He made a gesture as though he was activating his scythe, but discovered that it was no longer in his hand. It was on the floor, some distance away from him.

Ah well, it wasn't like he needed it. No, a quick death wasn't what this guy deserved.

Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off, watching as Shepard and Liara opened fire on the yagh, who didn't even react. The shots bounced off a kinetic barrier around him.

"It's no...!" Shepard stopped yelling the warning to Harry when she saw him sprinting toward the larger creature.

The Broker saw Harry coming at him and raised his fist to smack him away. Harry ducked under the swing and threw his fist forward, burying it deep in the Broker's stomach, lifting him off his feet and knocking him on his ass. The Broker roared in pain and rage, but he wasn't allowed to get up or even take aim, for Harry grabbed the creature's leg and pulled.

Suddenly the Broker found himself airborne, flying through the air and impacting with the wall at the exact same spot where Harry had crashed.

Shepard, taking the hint, immediately holstered her weapon and ran up to the Broker, who was getting on his feet, and nailed him in the face with a flying knee kick, which knocked him on his ass again. Her victory was short-lived, however, as the yahg grabbed a hold of her ankle and flung her away. Harry caught her in mid-air and set her down, before rushing at the Broker again. Shepard noticed that he was now holding his deactivated scythe in his hand.

The Shadow Broker sat up and roared, but Harry firmly planted a foot on his chest and pushed him down. Before the Broker could react, the head of the staff in his hand was rammed into his mouth. Four pairs of eyes widened when Harry pushed the button on the staff.

With a hiss, a shimmering green scythe blade pierced through the top of the Broker's head, and his eyes were frozen wide and surprised. Harry pulled the scythe out, almost slicing the head in half, and then deactivated it and shortened it into its unassuming foot-long form.

"Well!" Harry exclaimed with a wide grin, clapping his hands together. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

–

 **So, what do you think? I know it wasn't exactly as riveting as one might expect from an over one-year long wait, but I did my best. This LotSB DLC was really hard to type out, hence why there were a few cuts to different scenes.**

 **In any case, hope you enjoyed, and fingers crossed that I'll be able to get another chapter done soon! Leave a review at the door!**


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